Nate the Great Goes Undercover
Page 1
REAL ALL THESE
NATE THE GREAT DETECTIVE STORIES
NATE THE GREAT
NATE THE GREAT GOES UNDERCOVER
NATE THE GREAT AND THE LOST LIST
NATE THE GREAT AND THE PHONY CLUE
NATE THE GREAT AND THE STICKY CASE
NATE THE GREAT AND THE MISSING KEY
NATE THE GREAT AND THE SNOWY TRAIL
NATE THE GREAT AND THE FISHY PRIZE
NATE THE GREAT STALKS STUPIDWEED
NATE THE GREAT AND THE BORING BEACH BAG
NATE THE GREAT GOES DOWN IN THE DUMPS
NATE THE GREAT AND THE HALLOWEEN HUNT
NATE THE GREAT AND THE MUSICAL NOTE
NATE THE GREAT AND THE STOLEN BASE
NATE THE GREAT AND THE PILLOWCASE
NATE THE GREAT AND THE MUSHY VALENTINE
NATE THE GREAT AND THE TARDY TORTOISE
NATE THE GREAT AND THE CRUNCHY CHRISTMAS
NATE THE GREAT SAVE THE KING OF SWEDEN
NATE THE GREAT AND ME: THE CASE OF THE FLEEING FANG
NATE THE GREAT AND THE MONSTER MESS
NATE THE GREAT, SAN FRANCISCO DETECTIVE
NATE THE GREAT AND THE BIG SNIFF
NATE THE GREAT ON THE OWL EXPRESS
NATE THE GREAT TALKS TURKEY
NATE THE GREAT AND THE HUNGRY BOOK CLUB
AND CONTINUE THE DETECTIVE FUN WITH
OLIVIA SHARP
by marjorie weinman sharmat and mitchel sharmat illustrated by denise brunkus
OLIVIA SHARP: THE PIZZA MONSTER
OLIVIA SHARP: THE PRINCESS OF THE FILLMORE STREET SCHOOL
OLIVIA SHARP: THE SLY SPY
OLIVIA SHARP: THE GREEN TOENAILS GANG
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 1974 by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
Cover art and interior illustrations © 1974 by Marc Simont
Extra Fun Activities copyright © 2006 by Emily Costello
Extra Fun Activities illustrations copyright © 2006 by Laura Hart
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
Yearling and the jumping horse design are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Delacorte Press is a registered trademark and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
Visit us on the Web! www.randomhouse.com/kids
Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at RHTeachersLibrarians.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
eBook ISBN 978-0-385-37679-2 — Trade paperback ISBN 978-0-440-46302-3
Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.
v3.1
For my wonderful father, Nate
Contents
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
First Page
Extra Fun Activities
About the Author
I, Nate the Great, am a detective.
I work hard,
I rest hard.
Tonight I am resting hard
from my last case.
It was my first night case.
It started in the morning
before breakfast.
I was walking my dog, Sludge.
Sludge is my new dog.
I found him in a field
eating a stale pancake.
I love pancakes.
I knew he was my kind of dog.
I saw Oliver come
out of his house.
Oliver lives next door.
Sludge and I walked faster.
Oliver walked faster.
Oliver caught up with us.
He always catches up with us.
Oliver is a pest.
“There is a garbage snatcher
in the neighborhood,” Oliver said.
“Our can is tipped over
every night.
I need help.”
Oliver knows I am a detective.
He knows I am a good detective.
“I will help you,” I said.
“I, Nate the Great,
will help you
pick up your garbage.”
“That is not the kind of help
I need,” Oliver said.
“I want to know who is taking
the garbage every night.”
“That is easy,” I said.
“Somebody hungry
is taking your garbage.
Somebody very hungry.
And sleepy.
Somebody sleepy
from getting up every night
to take your garbage.”
“Do you know anybody
hungry and sleepy?” Oliver asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Me.
I will find the garbage snatcher
after I eat breakfast.”
Sludge and I went home.
I cooked a giant pancake.
I gave some to Sludge.
Then we went outside.
I said to Sludge,
“I’ll ask questions
while you sniff. If you sniff any
garbage smells, let me know.”
I saw Rosamond coming
down the street with her cats.
Rosamond did not look
hungry or sleepy.
She looked like she always looks.
Strange.
Sludge sniffed while I spoke.
“Rosamond, do you eat garbage?”
Rosamond said, “There are
two thousand other things
I would eat
before I would eat garbage.
First, I would eat hamburger,
ice cream, candy, pickles, bananas,
potato chips, Krispy Krappies,
relish, doughnuts, spaghetti,
ice cubes, mint leaves.…”
Rosamond kept talking.
I did not have time
to hear her list
of two thousand things.
I walked on.
Rosamond was still talking.
“Pretzels, artichokes,
baked beans, chocolate pudding,
vegetable soup, walnuts …”
Rosamond had two thousand
reasons for not
taking Oliver’s garbage.
But what about her cats?
I went back to Rosamond.
“Cauliflower, wafers, lamb chops,”
she said. “Peanuts, egg salad …”
“Excuse me,” I said.
“Do your cats eat garbage?”
“No,” Rosamond said. “My cats
eat cat food, cheese, tuna fish,
milk, salmon pie, liver loaf.…”
I walked away.
I decided to look for Esmeralda.
Esmeralda always has
her mouth open.
She is either hungry
or about to yawn.
I saw her sitting
in front of her house.
Sludge sniffed. I spoke.
“Do you get up at night to visit
Oliver’s garbage can?” I asked.
“I would never visit anything
that belongs to Oliver,”
Esmeralda said.
“He might foll
ow me.”
Now I knew why Esmeralda
keeps her mouth open.
She has wise things to say.
She had given me
an important clue.
No person would go near
Oliver or his garbage.
Oliver is too much of a pest.
Sludge and I went home.
Oliver came over.
Oliver always comes over.
Sludge sniffed Oliver.
I gave Sludge a pancake.
“Is the case solved?” Oliver asked.
“Part of it,” I said.
“Which part?” he asked.
“I, Nate the Great, have found out
who did not take your garbage.
A person did not
take your garbage.”
“Well, who took it?” Oliver asked.
“That is the part
that is not solved,” I said.
“I, Nate the Great, say
that an animal or bird took it.
An animal or bird that goes out
in the night. I will find out what
and I will be back.”
Sometimes I, Nate the Great,
need help.
I went to the library.
I read about birds that
go out in the night.
They are called Strigiformes
and Caprimulgiformes.
I wrote the names down.
Then I crossed them out.
Birds with names like that
would not eat anything
called garbage.
Then I read about cats, rats, bats,
mice, shrews, skunks, raccoons,
opossums, and moles.
They all go out at night.
I read about what they like
and what they do not like.
Then I went home.
Oliver came over.
I said, “A cat, rat, bat, mouse,
shrew, skunk, raccoon, opossum,
or mole is taking your garbage.”
“Which one?” Oliver asked.
“I don’t know. But tonight,
I, Nate the Great, will find out.”
I left a note for my mother.
I went out into the yard.
It was cold out there.
I asked Sludge if I could share
his doghouse.
I crawled in.
Sludge crawled out.
It was a small doghouse.
I looked out the window
of the doghouse.
I could not see
Oliver’s garbage can.
I crawled out of the doghouse.
I left Sludge a pancake.
Where could I hide?
I, Nate the Great,
knew where to hide.
In the garbage can.
I was sorry I knew.
Detective work is not
fun and games.
Detective work is dirty garbage
cans instead of clean beds.
Detective work is banana peels,
dishrags, milk cartons, floor
sweepings, cigar ashes, fleas,
and me
all together in one can.
I peeked out
from under the cover.
The street was quiet.
Then I heard a sound.
Crunch! Crackle! Klunk!
The sound was close to me.
The sound was me.
The garbage can was crunchy
and crackly and klunky.
Every time I moved
it was crunchier and cracklier.
I lifted up the cover. I got out.
I had a new plan. A better plan.
I would not wait
for the garbage snatcher.
I would go out and find him.
I crept down the street.
I looked to the right
and to the left
and behind me.
Right, left, behind.
Right, left, behind.
Smack!
Something big hit me.
It was in front of me.
The one place I forgot to look.
I do not think
I made a dent
in the telephone pole.
I kept creeping and looking.
Right, left, behind, front.
Right, left, behind, front.
I came to a field.
Animals like fields.
I saw an animal.
I, Nate the Great, was in luck.
I crept closer.
I, Nate the Great, was in bad luck.
It was a skunk.
I started to walk backward.
I saw some stuff on the ground
next to the skunk.
It looked like garbage.
I walked forward to see.
I saw some garbage.
The skunk saw me.
The skunk stamped his feet.
He raised his tail.
I, Nate the Great,
did not run fast enough.
But the case was solved.
The skunk
was the garbage snatcher.
I went home.
I wrote a note to Oliver.
I put it in his mailbox.
It was not morning yet.
But I knew there was something
I must do
right away.
I was glad the water was hot.
In fact, that is how
I spent most of the next day.
The following morning
Oliver came over.
“The case is unsolved,” he said.
“The garbage can is tipped again.”
“Impossible,” I said.
“Come and see my
garbage,” Oliver said.
I, Nate the Great, have had
better invitations.
But I went.
The can was tipped, all right.
“And here is the can of mothballs,”
Oliver said. “So who is
the garbage snatcher?” he asked.
“I, Nate the Great, will find out,
no matter how long
or how many baths it takes.”
I walked away.
Sludge followed me.
He was doing a lot of sniffing.
But I, Nate the Great,
had a lot of thinking to do.
I gave Sludge a pancake.
There must be a clue I missed.
Sludge ignored the pancake.
He was thinking, too.
I thought harder.
And harder.
Then I knew what the clue was.
All I needed was the proof.
I left a note for my mother.
I went to the garbage can.
I stepped inside.
I put the cover over me.
I left space to look out
and to breathe.
I knew that was important.
I waited.
Nothing happened.
Something came up to the can.
Something knocked
the cover to the ground.
Something looked inside.
“Something” was Sludge.
Sludge was surprised to see me.
But I, Nate the Great, had been
expecting to see Sludge.
I knew that Sludge
was the garbage snatcher.
And I knew why.
Sludge was tired of my pancakes.
How could anybody
be tired of pancakes?
Sludge was looking
for his own snack.
Sludge was hungry.
I took him back to his doghouse.
I gave him a bone
and a bowl of dog food.
Someday Sludge
will be a great detective,
when he learns to sniff more
and snatch
less.
I wanted to take a bath.
But I was too tired.
I wanted to write a note to Oliver.
But I was too tired.
Tomorrow Oliver will come over.
Oliver always comes over.
Now I am resting.
I can hear the sounds of the night.
I can hear the sounds of a
crunchy bone being crunched.
They are good sounds.
My first night case is over.
Maybe it will be my last night case.
I, Nate the Great, am pooped.
Nate’s Notes:
Strigiformes and Caprimulgiformes
Nate’s Notes: Creatures of the Night
How to Make Rosamond’s Favorite Food: Hamburgers
Funny Pages
How to Make Rosamond’s Second-Favorite Food: Ice Cream
More Funny Pages
How to Have a Good Long Soak
Rosamond is not weird when it comes to her favorite food. Hamburgers are pretty normal. On average, Americans eat about three each week!
Ask an adult to help you with this recipe. It will make four burgers.
GET TOGETHER:
• ¼ cup of milk
• a small sauté pan
• one slice of white bread
• a mixing bowl
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• a dash of ground pepper
• 1 pound of ground beef
• additional seasonings such as garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil, and chili powder (if you want some)
• a large frying pan
• a spatula
• 4 hamburger buns
• ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, relish, pickles, tomato slices, lettuce, spinach leaves, onion slices—whatever toppings you like!