The Pushcart War is a popular children's novel by the American writer Jean Merrill, illustrated by Ronni Solbert[1] and first published by W. R. Scott in 1964.

The novel was dedicated to Mary Nichols, a journalist for The Village Voice who led the Citizens Committee for the Preservation of Tompkins Square Park.

Leaders of the three biggest trucking companies, collectively known as The Three, hold a secret meeting where they plan to take over the streets for themselves by eliminating other traffic, starting with the pushcarts.

Beset by truck-related "accidental" incidents, damaged carts, and injured fellows, the pushcart peddlers realize they need to fight back.

One peddler, Harry the Hot Dog, is so proficient that he has caused 23 flat tires just that morning; another, General Anna, despairs of her poor aim and begins placing pins by hand.

Hammerman outwits The Three by inviting the Police Commissioner for a friendly game of poker (and as protection) the night of the planned kidnap.

The citizens of New York City, including Gambling, and the members of the press eventually move to the side of the street vendors after the peddlers' Peace March is interrupted by violence from truck drivers led by Mack.

After the war, Albert P. Mack is sentenced to life in prison for violating the Courtesy Act nineteen times.

The New York Times reviewed the novel in 1964 as "utterly captivating", praising it as "a book for young people with both a point of view and a sense of the ridiculous.

[12] Author Adam Mansbach, who first read the novel at 9 years old, called it a story "full of unexpected reversals and understated witticisms" in 2013.

[13] When the 50th Anniversary edition was published in 2014, Alyssa Rosenberg called it "an argument for staying hopeful about the possibility of bringing about change, even when you are going up against entrenched and powerful interests" and compared it to A Canticle for Leibowitz in The Washington Post.

[15][16] Ela Bhatt wrote to Merrill in 1997, requesting permission to stage an adaptation in Bhopal, India on behalf of the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA).

[19] Additional projects were announced in 1972, by publicist Larry Belling for an animated film using a script by Stan G. Spiegelman,[20] and in 2002, for Jane Startz Productions, adapted by Soman Chainani.