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Nate the Great and the Wandering Word

Illustrated by Jody Wheeler
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Join the world's greatest detective, Nate the Great, as he solves the mystery of the missing word! Perfect for beginning readers and the Common Core, this long-running chapter book series will encourage children to problem-solve with Nate, using logical thinking to solve mysteries!

WHAT DOES A STRANGE, LONG, MADE-UP WORD SOUND LIKE?

Esmeralda came up with the perfect name for Rosamond's pet concert. But she lost the pink paper where she wrote the word--and she can't remember what it is. Nate the Great and his dog, Sludge, take on the unusual case, and they are soon braving pink papers and barking, oinking, and talking pets. Will Nate and Sludge find the word in time for the show to go on?

Visit Nate the Great and Sludge!
NatetheGreatBooks.com

Praise for the Nate the Great Series:

"Kids will like Nate the Great."-SLJ, Starred

"A consistently entertaining series."-Booklist

"Loose, humorous chalk and watercolor spots help turn this beginning reader into a page-turner."-Publishers Weekly

"Nate, Sludge, and all their friends have been delighting beginning readers for years."-Kirkus Reviews

"They don't come any cooler than Nate the Great."-The Huffington Post
 
My name is Nate the Great.
I am a detective.
My partner is my dog, Sludge.
One morning we were out for a walk.
Suddenly, someone called to us.
It was Esmeralda.
Esmeralda is very smart. 
She knows many things. 
 
“Hey, Nate. Hey, Sludge,” she called.
“I have lost something.”
I was surprised.
“What did you lose?” I asked.
“I lost a word,” Esmeralda said.
“What?” I said. “How did you lose a word?”
Esmeralda sighed. “Well, I had it and then I didn’t,” she said.
I was interested. Sludge looked interested too.
“Hmm,” I said. “Did you write the word or just say it?”
“I said it and wrote it on pink paper. 
Now I don’t remember the word. 
Please find it for me.”
“I, Nate the Great, will take the case,” 
I said.
“I will look for your word. 
First, I have questions to ask you. 
 
WHEN did you lose the word? 
WHERE did you lose the word? 
HOW did you lose the word?”
“I have answers to your questions,” Esmeralda said.
“I lost my word yesterday. I was at Rosamond’s house. I was at her dining room table. It was noon. I wrote my word and then it was gone.”
“Did Rosamond see you write the word 
on the pink paper?” I asked.
“No, Rosamond was in the kitchen,” Esmeralda said. 
 
“She wants to have a pet singing concert. She was testing pets’ singing voices.”
“Who else was in the house?” I asked.
“The kitchen was full of people,” Esmeralda said. “And pets too. 
Finley’s rat; Oliver’s eel; Claude’s pig; Annie’s dog, Fang; and Rosamond’s four cats. The pets were in the kitchen for tryouts.”
“So you were alone in the dining room?” 
I asked. 
 
“Almost,” Esmeralda said. “Pip’s parrot is afraid of Rosamond’s cats. He was with me.”
“Smart bird,” I said. “But where was Pip?”
“In the kitchen, listening to the tryouts,” Esmeralda said. “Are those good clues?”
“I don’t know yet,” I said. “What were you writing about when your word disappeared?”
“I was trying to come up with a name for the concert. I wrote the word down so I wouldn’t forget it. 
 
“Then I remembered that I had to be home for lunch. When I came back later, my word was gone.”
“Can you tell me anything about the word?” I asked. 
 
“Yes,” Esmeralda said. “It’s a long word. A strange word. A made-up word.”
“A strange word will be right at home in Rosamond’s house,” I said.
“Now here comes my best clue,” Esmeralda said.
“When I came back, all the pets were gone too. But Annie’s little brother, Harry, was in the dining room with scissors. 
 
“He was cutting words out of sentences. I thought my word was mixed in with the words he had cut, but I couldn’t find it anywhere.”
I, Nate the Great, knew it was time to go home and think.
I wrote a note to my mother. 
Born in Portland, Maine, in 1928, Marjorie Weinman Sharmat dreamed of becoming a writer. Little did she know that she would be the author of more than 130 books for children of all ages, which have been translated into 17 languages. Another of her childhood dreams, that of becoming a detective, has also been realized in her most popular Nate the Great series, begun in 1972. Many of Sharmat's books have been Literary Guild selections and chosen as Books of the Year by the Library of Congress. Several have been made into films for television, including Nate the Great Goes Undercover, winner of the Los Angeles International Children's Film Festival Award. Nate the Great Saves the King of Sweden has been named one of the New York Public Library's 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing. View titles by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
© Tammy Loya Photography

About

Join the world's greatest detective, Nate the Great, as he solves the mystery of the missing word! Perfect for beginning readers and the Common Core, this long-running chapter book series will encourage children to problem-solve with Nate, using logical thinking to solve mysteries!

WHAT DOES A STRANGE, LONG, MADE-UP WORD SOUND LIKE?

Esmeralda came up with the perfect name for Rosamond's pet concert. But she lost the pink paper where she wrote the word--and she can't remember what it is. Nate the Great and his dog, Sludge, take on the unusual case, and they are soon braving pink papers and barking, oinking, and talking pets. Will Nate and Sludge find the word in time for the show to go on?

Visit Nate the Great and Sludge!
NatetheGreatBooks.com

Praise for the Nate the Great Series:

"Kids will like Nate the Great."-SLJ, Starred

"A consistently entertaining series."-Booklist

"Loose, humorous chalk and watercolor spots help turn this beginning reader into a page-turner."-Publishers Weekly

"Nate, Sludge, and all their friends have been delighting beginning readers for years."-Kirkus Reviews

"They don't come any cooler than Nate the Great."-The Huffington Post

Excerpt

 
My name is Nate the Great.
I am a detective.
My partner is my dog, Sludge.
One morning we were out for a walk.
Suddenly, someone called to us.
It was Esmeralda.
Esmeralda is very smart. 
She knows many things. 
 
“Hey, Nate. Hey, Sludge,” she called.
“I have lost something.”
I was surprised.
“What did you lose?” I asked.
“I lost a word,” Esmeralda said.
“What?” I said. “How did you lose a word?”
Esmeralda sighed. “Well, I had it and then I didn’t,” she said.
I was interested. Sludge looked interested too.
“Hmm,” I said. “Did you write the word or just say it?”
“I said it and wrote it on pink paper. 
Now I don’t remember the word. 
Please find it for me.”
“I, Nate the Great, will take the case,” 
I said.
“I will look for your word. 
First, I have questions to ask you. 
 
WHEN did you lose the word? 
WHERE did you lose the word? 
HOW did you lose the word?”
“I have answers to your questions,” Esmeralda said.
“I lost my word yesterday. I was at Rosamond’s house. I was at her dining room table. It was noon. I wrote my word and then it was gone.”
“Did Rosamond see you write the word 
on the pink paper?” I asked.
“No, Rosamond was in the kitchen,” Esmeralda said. 
 
“She wants to have a pet singing concert. She was testing pets’ singing voices.”
“Who else was in the house?” I asked.
“The kitchen was full of people,” Esmeralda said. “And pets too. 
Finley’s rat; Oliver’s eel; Claude’s pig; Annie’s dog, Fang; and Rosamond’s four cats. The pets were in the kitchen for tryouts.”
“So you were alone in the dining room?” 
I asked. 
 
“Almost,” Esmeralda said. “Pip’s parrot is afraid of Rosamond’s cats. He was with me.”
“Smart bird,” I said. “But where was Pip?”
“In the kitchen, listening to the tryouts,” Esmeralda said. “Are those good clues?”
“I don’t know yet,” I said. “What were you writing about when your word disappeared?”
“I was trying to come up with a name for the concert. I wrote the word down so I wouldn’t forget it. 
 
“Then I remembered that I had to be home for lunch. When I came back later, my word was gone.”
“Can you tell me anything about the word?” I asked. 
 
“Yes,” Esmeralda said. “It’s a long word. A strange word. A made-up word.”
“A strange word will be right at home in Rosamond’s house,” I said.
“Now here comes my best clue,” Esmeralda said.
“When I came back, all the pets were gone too. But Annie’s little brother, Harry, was in the dining room with scissors. 
 
“He was cutting words out of sentences. I thought my word was mixed in with the words he had cut, but I couldn’t find it anywhere.”
I, Nate the Great, knew it was time to go home and think.
I wrote a note to my mother. 

Author

Born in Portland, Maine, in 1928, Marjorie Weinman Sharmat dreamed of becoming a writer. Little did she know that she would be the author of more than 130 books for children of all ages, which have been translated into 17 languages. Another of her childhood dreams, that of becoming a detective, has also been realized in her most popular Nate the Great series, begun in 1972. Many of Sharmat's books have been Literary Guild selections and chosen as Books of the Year by the Library of Congress. Several have been made into films for television, including Nate the Great Goes Undercover, winner of the Los Angeles International Children's Film Festival Award. Nate the Great Saves the King of Sweden has been named one of the New York Public Library's 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing. View titles by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
© Tammy Loya Photography

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