Nate the Great

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Nate the Great is a series of more than two dozen children's detective stories written by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat. She and illustrator Marc Simont inaugurated the series in 1972 with Nate the Great, a 60-page book published by Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, and Simont illustrated the first twenty books, to 1998. Some numbers were jointly written with Mitchell Sharmat (Marjorie's husband) or Craig Sharmat (her son), and the recent ones have been illustrated by Martha Weston or Jody Wheeler "in the style of Marc Simont". Several of the books have adapted as television programs, one of which won the Los Angeles International Children's Film Festival Award (Nate the Great Goes Undercover). The New York Public Library named Nate the Great Saves the King of Sweden as one of its "100 Titles for Reading and Sharing".

Nate is a detective, a child version of Sherlock Holmes. He solves crimes with his dog, Sludge, introduced in the second case, Nate the Great goes Undercover (1974). Nate finds him in a field eating a stale pancake. (Both Nate and Sludge love pancakes.)

Other continuing characters include:

Annie—owner of the fierce dog Fang

Oliver—described as a pest

Rosamond—strange owner of five cats (Super Duper Hex, Super Hex, Big Hex, Plain Hex, and Little Hex)

Esmeralda—described as wise

Finley and Pip—occasional adversaries

The 1978 book Nate the Great and the Lost List features a character named Rosamond. Rosamond has long black hair and a short black dress, white mary jane shoes, five black cats of different sizes, and is frequently described as "strange." In particular, the text of Nate the Great introduces Rosamond: "Rosamond did not look hungry or sleepy. She looked like she always looks. Strange." This text allegedly inspired the creation of Emily the Strange.[1][2]

The 2002 book Nate the Great, San Francisco Detective establishes that Nate the Great and Olivia Sharp are cousins. She is the title character in the series Olivia Sharp: Agent for Secrets, by Marjorie Sharmat, Mitchell Sharmat, and Denise Brunkus.

Series

  1. Nate the Great
  2. Nate the Great goes Undercover
  3. Nate the Great and the Lost List
  4. Nate the Great and the Phony Clue
  5. Nate the Great and the Sticky Case
  6. Nate the Great and the Missing Key
  7. Nate the Great and the Snowy Trail
  8. Nate the Great and the Fishy Prize
  9. Nate the Great Stalks Stupidweed
  10. Nate the Great and the Boring Beach Bag
  11. Nate the Great Goes Down in the Dumps
  12. Nate the Great and the Halloween Hunt
  13. Nate the Great and the Musical Note (written with Craig Sharmat)
  14. Nate the Great and the Stolen Base
  15. Nate the Great and the Pillow Case
  16. Nate the Great and the Mushy Valentine
  17. Nate the Great and the Tardy Tortoise (written with Craig Sharmat)
  18. Nate the Great and the Crunchy Christmas (written with Craig Sharmat)
  19. Nate the Great Saves the King of Sweden (1997)
  20. Nate the Great and Me: The Case of the Fleeing Fang (1998)
  21. Nate the Great and the Monster Mess (1999), illustrated by Martha Weston†
  22. Nate the Great, San Francisco Detective (1999), with Mitchell Sharmat, ill. Weston†
  23. Nate the Great and the Big Sniff (2001), with Mitchell Sharmat, ill. Weston†
  24. Nate the Great on the Owl Express (2003), with Mitchell Sharmat, ill. Weston†
  25. Nate the Great Talks Turkey (2007), with Mitchell Sharmat, illustrated by Jody Wheeler‡
  26. Nate the Great and the Hungry Book Club (2009), with Mitchell Sharmat, ill. Wheeler‡
† "illustrations by Martha Weston in the style of Marc Simont"
‡ "illustrations by Jody Wheeler in the style of Marc Simont"

Popular culture

  • Nate the Great is mentioned in a few episodes of Between the Lions.
  • Nate the Great is now a new musical by TheatreworksUSA in the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons.
  • Nate the Great is posited by Doctor Popular in an online article to be the inspiration for Emily the Strange.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hogan, Ron (December 1, 2008). "“Goth Pop Icon” a Children’s Book Knockoff?". GalleyCat. Retrieved 2008-12-01. 
  2. ↑ Hull, Tim (June 9, 2009). "Nate the Great v. Emily the Strange in Comic Book Battle". Courthouse News Service. Retrieved 2010-12-03. 

External links

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