Nate the Great

This was a very funny mystery. Very reminiscent of a couple of old TV shows, especially Dragnet with it's comically serious tone. Nate seems like a kid Joe Friday. I love his odd obsession with pancakes. It was all very amusing. I would gladly read this again. It is the sort of humor that a kid would get, but an adult would appreciate as well, maybe even a bit more than the kid. Very well done.

I never did read any Nate the Great growing up...and what a shame. It's amazing that Sharmat can do so very much in terms of story and humor with so few words. It's great for beginner readers and uproariously funny as a read aloud story (especially if you can do the P.I. voice-over effect). This initial installment (I believe there are over 20 in this series) finds Nate the Great on hire for his friend Annie who has lost a favorite picture of her dog Fang. Nate is confidant that he can find the missing painting and sets out to systematically follow all the leads he's been given. He questions suspects and eventually tracks down the culprit, while enjoying meal after meal and snack after snack of, what else, but pancakes (his favorite show more food, of course).

This book is funny, charming and most of all...my kids just LOVED it! I have a 6 year old and an 8 year old, sometimes story time is tough and we're having more and more trouble finding books that appeal to both a 6 year old by and an 8 year old girl! We'll be reading more Nate the Great, because they both found it hilarious and best of all, Girl easily read it to Boy several times after having it read to them as a bedtime story! Absolutely Hilarious, I give it an A+ show less

Shortly after a breakfast generously supplied with pancakes, Nate the Great got an urgent call from Annie.
"I lost a picture, " said Annie. "Can you help me find it?"

"Of course, " said Nate. "I have found lost balloons, books, slippers, chickens. Even a lost goldfish. Now I, Nate the Great, will find a lost picture."

"Oh, good, " Annie said.

Nate, with the cool detachment of a Sam Spade, immediately plunges into his new and baffling case. Getting all the facts, asking the right questions, narrowing down the suspects. Nate, the boy detective who "likes to work alone, " solves the mystery and tracks down the culprit. In the process he also discovers the whereabouts of Super Hex, the missing cat.

Nate the Great is a classic children’s story and series that tells the tales of the main protagonist, Nate, as he takes on the role of a detective and subsequently solves cases for his friends. This book, specifically, appeals greatly to children at this short chapter book reading level as children at this age are using their imaginations a great amount, just as Nate is in this story. While many children may not know that Nate is not really a detective, the captivating language that Sharmat includes to describe Nate’s adventures truly pulls the reader into the story. For example; “There were pictures everywhere. Pictures of cats. Sitting cats. Standing cats. Cats in color and in black and white.” This text is at an appropriate show more reading level for emerging chapter book readers, and it is delivered at a strong yet slow pace so that these readers can feel comfortable reading alone. This book was even captivating for me, so I truly believe that through the linguistic style that Sharmat follows and the premise of the importance of friendship and imagination, this book and even series is/are an excellent read. show less

Shortly after a breakfast generously supplied with pancakes, Nate the Great got an urgent call from Annie.
"I lost a picture, " said Annie. "Can you help me find it?"

"Of course, " said Nate. "I have found lost balloons, books, slippers, chickens. Even a lost goldfish. Now I, Nate the Great, will find a lost picture."

"Oh, good, " Annie said.

Nate, with the cool detachment of a Sam Spade, immediately plunges into his new and baffling case. Getting all the facts, asking the right questions, narrowing down the suspects. Nate, the boy detective who "likes to work alone, " solves the mystery and tracks down the culprit. In the process he also discovers the whereabouts of Super Hex, the missing cat.

Shortly after a breakfast generously supplied with pancakes, Nate the Great got an urgent call from Annie.
"I lost a picture, " said Annie. "Can you help me find it?"

"Of course, " said Nate. "I have found lost balloons, books, slippers, chickens. Even a lost goldfish. Now I, Nate the Great, will find a lost picture."

"Oh, good, " Annie said.

Nate, with the cool detachment of a Sam Spade, immediately plunges into his new and baffling case. Getting all the facts, asking the right questions, narrowing down the suspects. Nate, the boy detective who "likes to work alone, " solves the mystery and tracks down the culprit. In the process he also discovers the whereabouts of Super Hex, the missing cat.

In my opinion, this book was incredibly well-rounded and would definitely be one I would select to read to my future classroom. The story was written in such a way that you could get a sense of the narrator (Nate)'s personality. The reader could tell that Nate was a child who wanted to seem older and be respected by his peers. For example, Nate would make comments such as "I hate to eat on the job", or "Of course I'm a real detective." The plot was well-organized, and the sequence of events were realistic. One of the prime reasons I enjoyed this book was because although it was a fictional "mystery", there was an educational piece at the end. The conflict that occurred in the story was that Nate's friend Annie was trying to find her show more picture. When Nate finally figures out that it was her brother who painted over her picture, he explained that red and yellow make orange which is why Annie's brother's picture is a different color from all of the rest. From this, a teacher could then get into a lesson on colors, and what happens when you mix them together, etc. I honestly wasn't expecting an educational aspect at the conclusion of this book, but I was pleasantly surprised at the ending. Overall, I think the big message of this book was that even small people can do great things. In this scenario, Nate helped his friend figure out what happened to her drawing. While this may not seem like a huge deal to some, it definitely was a big deal to Annie. show less