Nate the Great and the Pillowcase (Nate the Great Series)

by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat, Rosalind Weinman, Marc Simont (Illustrator)

Overview

About the 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 70 books for children of all ages. 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780780760530
Publisher:	Random House Childrens Books
Publication date:	11/28/1995
Series:	Nate the Great Series
Pages:	47
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 7.75(h) x 0.25(d)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Marjorie Weinman Sharmat has written more than 130 books for children and young adults, as well as movie and TV novelizations. Her books have been translated into twenty-four languages. The award-winning Nate the Great series, haled in Booklist as “groundbreaking,” has resulted in Nate’s real-world appearances in many New York Times crossword puzzles, sporting a milk mustache in magazines and posters, residing on more than 28 million boxes of Cheerios, and touring the country in musical theater. Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and her husband, Mitchell Sharmat, have also coauthored many books, including titles in both the Nate the Great and the Olivia Sharp series.
 
Rosalind Weinman, a portrait artist, lives in Tucson, Arizona. Her recollection of a mysterious middle-of-the-night phone call that woke her father, Nathan (the original Nate the Great), and mother, Anna, inspired this book. Rosalind Weinman has shown exceptional bravery in allowing the character Rosamond to be named after her.
 
Marc Simont won the Caldecott Medal for his artwork in A Tree Is Nice by Janice May Udry, as well as a Caldecott Honor for his own book, The Stray Dog. He illustrated the first twenty books in the Nate the Great series.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 1-3-This 15th addition to the series will not disappoint fans. Nate is awakened by a phone call in the middle of the night. His friend Rosamond needs his help-her cat's pillowcase has disappeared, and the feline, Big Hex, is pacing and keeping her awake. So that all concerned may get some sleep, the young detective sets out to solve the case. This is another well-told, humorous mystery that young readers will be able to solve if they zero in on Sharmat's clues. Simont's lively, realistic watercolors correlate with the action in the text. A satisfying, easy-reader mystery.-Sharron McElmeel, Cedar Rapids Community Schools, IA

School Library Journal

The intrepid detective returns for his fifteenth case in this beginning chapter book. Bed linen has gone astray. Nate's friend Rosamond will not be able to sleep until her cat's "slashed and shredded, shrunken and shriveled" pillowcase is recovered. Neither, apparently, will anyone else. Leaving a note for his mother, Nate follows a trail of clues through the dead of night, questioning suspects, interviewing the owner of Uncle Ned's Day and Night Diner, eliminating a red herring, and finally unraveling the mystery. The crisp, clipped narrative is both a clever parody of the hard-boiled detective story genre and a boon to beginning readers. Simont's line-and-watercolor illustrations harmonize perfectly with the tale's understated humor. The necessary clues are in place, and young sleuths can race Nate and his sidekick dog, Sludge, to the mystery's solution.

Elizabeth Bush

Praise for the Nate the Great Series
 
★ “Kids will like Nate the Great.” —School Library Journal, Starred Review
 
“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

From the Publisher