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    Nate the Great and the Lost List


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      READ 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 SAVES 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 Mitchell 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 © 1975 by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat

      Cover and interior illustrations copyright © 1975 by Marc Simont

      Extra Fun Activities text copyright © 2007 by Emily Costello

      Extra Fun Activities illustrations copyright © 2007 by Jody Wheeler

      All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York. Originally published in paperback in the United States by Delacorte Press in 1991

      Delacorte Press is a registered trademark and the colophon is a trademark of Random House LLC.

      Visit us on the Web! 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

      Trade paperback ISBN: 978-0-440-46282-8

      eBook ISBN: 978-0-385-37677-8

      Book design by Trish Parcell

      Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

      v3.1

      For someone special,

      my cousin Rhoda

      Contents

      Other Books by This Author

      Title Page

      Copyright

      Dedication

      First Page

      Extra Fun Activities

      About the Authors

      I, Nate the Great,

      am a busy detective.

      One morning I was not busy.

      I was on my vacation.

      I was sitting under a tree

      enjoying the breeze

      with my dog, Sludge,

      and a pancake.

      He needed a vacation too.

      My friend Claude

      came into the yard.

      I knew that he

      had lost something.

      Claude was always losing things.

      “I lost my way to your house,”

      he said. “And then I found it.”

      “What else did you lose?”

      “I lost the grocery list

      I was taking to the store.

      Can you help me find it?”

      “I, Nate the Great,

      am on my vacation,” I said.

      “When will your vacation be over?”

      “At lunch.”

      “I need the list before lunch,”

      Claude said.

      “Very well. I, Nate the Great,

      will take your case.

      Tell me, what was on the list?”

      “If I could remember, I wouldn’t

      need the list,” Claude said.

      “Good thinking,” I said.

      “Does anyone know what

      was on the list?”

      “My father,” Claude said.

      “He wrote it.”

      “Good. Can you find your father?”

      “No, he won’t be home

      until lunch.”

      “Can you remember

      some of the list?”

      “Yes,” Claude said. “I remember

      salt, milk, butter, flour,

      sugar, and tuna fish.”

      “Now, tell me, where did you

      lose the list?”

      “If I knew, I could

      find it,” Claude said.

      “You can’t be sure

      of that,” I said.

      “What streets did you walk on?”

      “I’m not sure,” Claude said.

      “I lost my way a few times.”

      “Then I, Nate the Great,

      know what to do.

      I will draw a map

      of every street

      between your house

      and the grocery store

      and we will follow the map.”

      Sludge and I got up.

      Our vacation was over.

      I got two pieces of paper

      and a pen.

      I drew a map

      on one piece of paper.

      I wrote on the other:

      Claude said,

      “I will walk with you.”

      “Don’t get lost,” I said,

      “or I will have

      two cases to solve.”

      We walked between Claude’s house

      and the grocery store

      and then between the grocery store

      and Claude’s house.

      Sludge sniffed.

      But we could not find the list.

      “Perhaps it blew away,” I said.

      I dropped the map

      on the ground.

      “What are you doing?”

      Claude asked.

      “I am dropping the map.

      Whichever direction it goes

      will show us the way

      the wind is blowing.

      Perhaps your list blew

      in the same direction.”

      The map blew toward Rosamond’s

      house and disappeared.

      “I will go

      to Rosamond’s house,” I said.

      “I will ask her if

      she has seen your list.”

      “I will go to my house

      and wait,” Claude said.

      “We are in front

      of your house,” I said.

      “Yes, that makes it

      easy to find,” Claude said.

      Sludge and I went

      to Rosamond’s house.

      Rosamond opened the door.

      Rosamond is a very strange girl.

      Today she looked

      more than strange.

      She looked strange and white.

      She was covered with flour.

      Sl
    udge sniffed hard.

      I sniffed hard.

      Rosamond smelled terrific.

      Pancakes!

      She was making pancakes.

      We walked in.

      Rosamond’s four black cats

      were there.

      Today they were white, too.

      The cats looked at Sludge.

      They were not afraid of him.

      Nobody is afraid of Sludge.

      “I am making cat pancakes

      for my cats,” Rosamond said,

      “from a new recipe.”

      “I would like to taste

      cat pancakes,” I said.

      “You are not a cat,” Rosamond said.

      “I would like to

      taste them anyway,” I said.

      “A pancake is a pancake.”

      Rosamond and I sat down.

      I ate a pancake.

      It tasted fishy.

      I ate another.

      It tasted fishier.

      “I am looking for Claude’s

      grocery list,” I said.

      “I think the wind blew it

      toward your house.

      Have you seen it?”

      “I haven’t seen a grocery list,”

      Rosamond said. “But—”

      “But what?”

      “But I see Annie

      and her dog, Fang,

      outside my window, and—”

      “And what?”

      “And Fang has a piece of

      paper in his mouth.

      It might be the grocery list.”

      I got up.

      “Thank you for your help

      and your pancakes,” I said.

      “I am having a cat pancake party

      this morning,” Rosamond said.

      “I have invited

      all the cats I know.

      Can you come?”

      “I am not a cat,” I said.

      “That’s what I told

      you before,” Rosamond said.

      Sludge and I went out

      to talk to Annie and Fang.

      I like Annie.

      I try to like Fang.

      “Hello,” I said. “I am looking

      for Claude’s grocery list,

      and I think Fang has found it.

      It’s between his teeth.”

      “He won’t let

      that paper go,” Annie said.

      “Can you pull it out?” I asked.

      “No,” Annie said.

      “Fang would get mad.”

      “I would not like to see

      Fang mad,” I said.

      “I, Nate the Great, say

      that we should keep anybody

      with sharp teeth happy.

      Very happy.”

      I had a problem.

      How could I get the paper

      out of Fang’s mouth?

      Suddenly I had the answer.

      “Sludge,” I said. “Bark!”

      Sludge barked.

      Sludge barks funny.

      But that does not matter.

      Fang barked back.

      The piece of paper

      dropped from his mouth.

      I reached for it.

      But the wind blew it

      down the street.

      I went after it.

      Sludge went after me.

      Fang went after Sludge.

      Annie went after Fang.

      The paper went around the corner.

      I went around the corner.

      Sludge went around the corner.

      Fang went around the corner.

      Annie went around the corner.

      The paper blew

      into a fence.

      I grabbed the paper.

      The case was almost over.

      I looked at the paper.

      I saw many lines.

      The paper was my map.

      “The list is still lost,” I said.

      “I need more clues.”

      I thanked Annie and Fang

      for their help.

      Sludge and I

      walked to Claude’s house.

      Claude was home.

      He was not lost.

      It was a good sign.

      “I, Nate the Great, have not

      found your list,” I said.

      “Can you remember anything else

      that was written on it?”

      “How will that help

      you find it?” Claude asked.

      “Trust me,” I said.

      “I remember! I remember

      two more things,” Claude said.

      “Eggs and baking powder.”

      “Very good,” I said.

      “Can you find the list

      before lunch?” Claude asked.

      “I hope so,” I said.

      “Come to my house at eleven.”

      Sludge and I walked home slowly.

      This was a hard case. At home

      I made myself some pancakes.

      I mixed eggs, flour, salt,

      baking powder, milk, butter,

      and sugar together and cooked them.

      I gave Sludge a bone.

      I ate and thought.

      I thought about the grocery list.

      I thought about Rosamond

      and her fishy cat pancakes.

      I thought about Annie and Fang

      and the map.

      I put ideas together.

      I took them apart.

      Then I had a big idea.

      I knew I must go back to

      Rosamond’s house.

      I did not want to do that.

      I did not want to be

      at a party with Rosamond

      and all the cats she knew.

      But I had a job to do.

      I had a case to solve.

      Sludge and I walked quickly to

      Rosamond’s house.

      I said hello to Rosamond

      and more cats

      than I could count.

      They were all over

      Rosamond’s floor,

      Rosamond’s tables,

      Rosamond’s chairs,

      and Rosamond.

      “I came to talk about

      your cat pancakes,” I said.

      “Would you like more?”

      Rosamond asked.

      “I would like to see

      your recipe,” I said.

      “Here it is,” Rosamond said.

      “There are no directions

      in this recipe,” I said.

      “I don’t need any,” Rosamond said.

      “I just mix

      some of everything together.”

      “Tell me, where did you

      get this recipe?”

      “I found it today,” Rosamond said.

      “Aha! You found it,” I said.

      “Did you find it

      near your house?”

      “Yes,” Rosamond said.

      “How did you know that?”

      “I have something to tell you.

      I, Nate the Great, say that

      your cat pancake recipe

      is Claude’s grocery list.”

      I stood tall.

      I cleared my throat.

      I read the recipe.

      “Salt

      milk

      butter

      flour

      tuna fish

      eggs

      baking powder

      sugar

      salmon

      liver.”

      “Oh,” Rosamond said.

      “When I found the paper,

      I thought it was a

      cat pancake recipe.”

      “Yes,” I said. “And when I

      saw Fang holding a piece of paper,

      I thought it was a grocery list.

      I thought it was what I

      hoped it was.

      When you saw the grocery list,

      you thought it was

      what you hoped it was.

      A cat pancake recipe.

      I, Nate the Great, thought of that

      when I was ma
    king pancakes.

      I mixed eggs, flour, salt,

      baking powder, milk, butter,

      and sugar.

      Claude had told me they

      were on his list.

      The other thing he remembered

      on the list was tuna fish.

      Cats like tuna fish.

      So—cat pancakes!”

      “Oh,” Rosamond said.

      “Well, Claude

      can have his paper back.

      I will keep the recipe

      in my head.”

      “That is a good place for it,”

      I said. “It cannot blow away.”

      I said good-bye to Rosamond

      and more cats

      than I could count.

      Sludge and I went home

      with the list.

      The case was solved.

      And it was almost eleven o’clock.

      When Claude comes at eleven,

      I will give him his list.

      It is now past eleven o’clock.

      It is now past eleven-thirty.

      Claude has not shown up.

      I do not see him anywhere.

      I hope Claude has not lost

      himself.

      It is now past twelve.

      Here comes Claude.

      I am glad I do not have

      to look for him.

      I am glad the case is over.

      I, Nate the Great,

      have something important to do.

      I, Nate the Great,

      am going to finish

      my vacation.

      Nate’s Notes: Wind

      How to Make a Pinwheel

      Nate’s Notes: Maps

      How to Make Cat Pancakes

      Funny Pages

      How to Improve Your Memory

      More Funny Pages

      Pinwheels are fun! Make one and learn more about how the wind works.

      Ask an adult to help you with this.

     


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