Francisco Gabilondo Soler (Cri-Cri)

Hello! My name is Francisco Gabilondo Soler, but my friends call me Cri-Cri, which sounds like a cricket chirping! I was born on October 6th, 1907, in a beautiful town in Mexico called Orizaba. When I was a boy, I didn't love going to school, but I adored reading books. My head was always filled with fairy tales by writers like Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm. I also loved looking up at the night sky and learning the names of all the stars. I was a great daydreamer, and I knew that one day, I wanted to share my amazing stories with the world.

When I grew up, I learned to play the piano. I started to turn my daydreams into songs! In 1934, I had a wonderful idea. What if I could share my music on the radio? On October 15th of that year, I started my very own radio show on a station called XEW. At first, it was just me and my piano. I sang songs and told stories about all the characters living in my imagination. The show needed a name, and soon, everyone knew it as the show of 'Cri-Cri, The Little Singing Cricket.' That little cricket was me!

My radio show became a big hit! For 27 years, children all over Mexico would gather around their radios to listen to my adventures. I wrote over 200 songs about silly and wonderful characters. There was 'El Ratón Vaquero,' a brave cowboy mouse, a clumsy doll who wanted to learn to dance, and 'La Patita,' a little duck who went shopping for her family. My songs created a magical world where animals could talk, toys came to life, and anything was possible.

I spent my whole life creating music and stories for children. I lived to be 83 years old, and my heart was always full of songs. Even though I am no longer here, my music is. Families in Mexico and many other places still sing along with the cowboy mouse and the little duck. I hope that whenever you hear one of my songs, it fills your head with happy daydreams, just like it did for me.