Rosamond, Annie, Fang, Sludge, and I
went into the kitchen.
The cookbook was still open on the table.
Fang sniffed and ran to the table.
“Ho hum,” Rosamond said. “We already
know that Fang ripped a page yesterday.”
“Wait!” I said.
Fang jumped up and put his front paws
on the table.
He opened his jaws.
He stretched.
But he couldn’t reach the cookbook.
“This table is too high and big for Fang,”
I said.
“Poor Fang,” Annie said. “He’s big
and smart, but he isn’t that stretchy.”
I, Nate the Great, already knew that.
Fang would have grabbed the bits of meat
during the meeting
if he could have reached them!
Rosamond sighed. “Okay, so Fang
couldn’t have ripped the page yesterday.”
“Correct,” I said. “Also, he doesn’t
like tuna fish pie.”
I pulled the cookbook photo out of
my pocket.
“This photo shows the cookbook open
to a tuna fish pie recipe. But the open
pages have no bits of tuna fish on them.”
“I already knew that,” Rosamond said.
“I, Nate the Great, say that someone
reached for those tuna fish bits
and was scratching and tearing
to get every last bite.”
“Who?” Rosamond asked.
“Little Hex,” I said. “He can leap high.
Also, he can hide in small spaces.
He is so small that he could have
gone into the kitchen and come back
without your seeing him.”
Rosamond clapped her hands.
“Little Hex is growing up!
My darling little Page Monster.”
“I, Nate the Great, say that
the ripped-page case is solved.
And you should try to keep your
kitchen neater.
Clean clues are better.”
I took two bones from my pocket
and gave one to Fang and one to Sludge.
Rosamond kept clapping.
“Little Hex must have taken the
Harvard Hedgehog page too.
What a talent he has!”
“Not so fast,” I said.
“You are trying to reuse a clue.
Little Hex might not have taken
the page.
Tell me everything about
your Harvard Hedgehog book.”
“Well, yesterday Annie and I went to the
book sale at the school around the corner.
I bought the book there.
I read it before I bought it.
There weren’t any missing pages.
After I bought the book,
I kept it with me.
In my hands. On my head.
I even slept with it.”
“Is there anything else
I should know?” I asked.
“No. I’m a president. I think
of everything.”
“Then I must leave,” I said.
“Leave? But you just came.”
“That’s how it is
in the detective business,” I said.
“We come. We go.
We go where the clues take us.”
I, Nate the Great, knew that
I needed more clues.
If the book was with Rosamond
all the time,
how could a page be missing?
Chapter Ten
Annie, Fang, Sludge, and I left
Rosamond’s house.
“I am looking for a new clue,”
I said to Annie. “A missing-page clue.”
“I don’t have any clue,” Annie said.
“But I want you to know
that Fang can be stretchy
seen him at the school book sale.”
“What?” I said. “He was there?”
“I brought him along when
I went with Rosamond,” Annie said.
“Tell me exactly how
Fang was stretchy there,” I said.
“Well, we went to the Used Books table.
A lady there told us that some books
might have food stains,
loose bindings, and faded pages.
Rosamond began picking through books
and reading them.
If she liked a book, she put it in a pile
on the table.
Suddenly Fang put his paws on the table
and started to sniff a book.
There were stains on it
that looked like
chicken noodle soup.
Fang licked the book.
Then he pawed through
more books and licked pages.
Lots of books fell to the floor.
Fang was really stretchy.
It was his kind of table.”
“Then what happened?”
“I picked up the books that
Fang had licked and I bought them.
Rosamond’s pile had toppled over,
but she scooped up her books
from the table and the floor
and bought them.
We both went home with full bags.
Since Fang had licked and liked the
books, I put them all in his doghouse.”
“Thank you for the information,” I said.
I turned to Sludge.
“You and I are going to school!”
Chapter Eleven
Sludge and I rushed to the school.
The book sale was in the gym.
A lady walked up to us.
I knew she was a librarian because
she had a badge on her shirt that said
LIBRARIAN.
Sometimes being a detective is easy.
“Hello,” I said. “I am looking for
Harvard Hedgehog.”
“You’re in luck,” the librarian said.
“We’ve sold two copies of Harvard,
but we still have one left.
And here he is on the table.”
“Do you have pages 15 and 16?” I asked.
“Yes. The pages are in good shape.
Clean, and with strong binding.”
“No chicken noodle soup?” I said.
“What?”
“I was just thinking.
I’m a detective.
I think a lot.
I think I will buy this book.”
I bought the book and thanked
the librarian.
Then Sludge and I went home.
Chapter Twelve
I sat down in my favorite chair.
I opened my Harvard Hedgehog book.
I turned to page 15.
There was a picture of Harvard
getting his photo taken
in front of a big clock.
He looked proud. And he was smiling.
But why would anyone take that page?
I, Nate the Great, say that
there must be far better things
in this world to watch
than a hedgehog posing for his photo.
And then I remembered something.
What I had just seen
in the book was not news to me.
I had already heard about it.
I, Nate the Great, was about
to solve this case.
Chapter Thirteen
I had two clues.
School clues.
I was told that the pages
in my book were in good shape.
Clean. Strong binding.
Annie was told that some books
had loose bindings.
Hmmm. Pages. Bindings.
I, Nate the Great, say that a loose binding
could cause a loose page,
and a loose page could become
a missing page.
There had been three copies of the
Harvard Hedgehog book at the
Used Books table.
Rosamond had picked a good copy.
But when her pile fell down,
she must have grabbed the copy
that had the missing page.
She didn’t know it.
Annie must have bought the good copy
that Rosamond had picked out,
and she didn’t know it.
And how did I, Nate the Great, know it?
Because I now remembered where I had
heard about Harvard Hedgehog smiling in
front of a big clock.
From Harry! At the book club meeting.
But how could Harry have known
what was on page 15, since it was missing?
Because he had seen the book at home!
Harry must have been looking
at Fang’s books.
And he saw the Harvard Hedgehog picture.
I turned to Sludge.
“I must give this book to Rosamond
and tell her that the case is solved.
I must also tell Annie to feed Fang
plenty of chicken noodle soup.
But there is something else
I want to do first.”
I, Nate the Great, picked up every book
that Rosamond had brought over
and carefully put them on a shelf.
“Just where they should be,” I said.
Then I took my Harvard Hedgehog book
and sat down in my chair.
“I am going to read this book
as a reader and not
as a detective,” I said.
“Let’s read it together.”
Sludge jumped up on my lap.
And I, Nate the Great, read and read
until I reached…
Nate’s Notes: Hedgehogs
Funny Pages
Q: What happened when Sludge wrote the
story of his life?
A: It got on the best smellers’ list.
Q: Why did the librarian slip and fall?
A: She was in the non-friction section.
Q: Why was the T. rex afraid to go to the library?
A: Because his books were 60 million years overdue.
Q: Why didn’t the book club like the
phone book?
A: It had too many characters.
Q: What did the librarian hang over her
baby’s crib?
A: A book mobile.
Q: Why does the elephant use his trunk as a
bookmark?
A: That way he nose where he stopped reading.
Q: What did the mummy do at the library?
A: Got wrapped up in a good mystery.
Q: Why are frogs librarians’ favorite animals?
A: Because frogs say “Rrredit, rrredit, rrredit.”
Have you helped solve all
Nate the Great’s mysteries?
❑ Nate the Great: Meet Nate, the great detective,
and join him as he uses incredible sleuthing skills
to solve his first big case.
❑ Nate the Great Goes Undercover: Who—
or what—is raiding Oliver’s trash every night?
Nate bravely hides out in his friend’s garbage can
to catch the smelly crook.
❑ Nate the Great and the Lost List: Nate loves
pancakes, but who ever heard of cats eating them?
Is a strange recipe at the heart of this mystery?
❑ Nate the Great and the Phony Clue: Against
ferocious cats, hostile adversaries, and a sly phony
clue, Nate struggles to prove that he’s still the
world’s greatest detective.
❑ Nate the Great and the Sticky Case: Nate is
stuck with his stickiest case yet as he hunts for his
friend Claude’s valuable stegosaurus stamp.
❑ Nate the Great and the Missing Key: Nate isn’t
afraid to look anywhere—even under the nose of
his friend’s ferocious dog, Fang—to solve the case
of the missing key.
❑ Nate the Great and the Snowy Trail: Nate has
his work cut out for him when his friend
Rosamond loses the birthday present she was
going to give him. How can he find the present
when Rosamond won’t even tell him what it is?
❑ Nate the Great and the Fishy Prize: The trophy
for the Smartest Pet Contest has disappeared!
Will Sludge, Nate’s clue-sniffing dog, help solve
the case and prove he’s worthy of the prize?
❑ Nate the Great Stalks Stupidweed: When his
friend Oliver loses his special plant, Nate searches
high and low. Who knew a little weed could be so
tricky?
❑ Nate the Great and the Boring Beach Bag: It’s
no relaxing day at the beach for Nate and his
trusty dog, Sludge, as they search through sand
and surf for signs of a missing beach bag.
❑ Nate the Great Goes Down in the Dumps: Nate
discovers that the only way to clean up this case is
to visit the town dump. Detective work can sure
get dirty!
❑ Nate the Great and the Halloween Hunt: It’s
Halloween, but Nate isn’t trick-or-treating for
candy. Can any of the witches, pirates, and robots
he meets help him find a missing cat?
❑ Nate the Great and the Musical Note: Nate is
used to looking for clues, not listening for them!
When he gets caught in the middle of a musical
riddle, can he hear his way out?
❑ Nate the Great and the Stolen Base: It’s not easy
to track down a stolen base, and Nate’s hunt leads
him to some strange places before he finds himself
at bat once more.
❑ Nate the Great and the Pillowcase: When a
pillowcase goes missing, Nate must venture into the
dead of night to search for clues. Everyone sleeps
easier knowing Nate the Great is on the case!
❑ Nate the Great and the Mushy Valentine: Nate
hates mushy stuff. But when someone leaves a big
heart taped to Sludge’s doghouse, Nate must help
his favorite pooch discover his secret admirer.
❑ Nate the Great and the Tardy Tortoise: Where
did the mysterious green tortoise in Nate’s yard
come from? Nate needs all his patience to follow
this slow … slow … clue.
❑ Nate the Great and the Crunchy Christmas: It’s
Christmas, and Fang, Annie’s scary dog, is not
feeling jolly. Can Nate find Fang’s crunchy
Christmas mail before Fang crunches on him?
❑ Nate the Great Saves the King of Sweden: Can
Nate solve his first-ever international case without
leaving his own neighborhood?
❑ Nate the Great and Me: The Case of the
Fleeing Fang: A surprise Happy Detective Day
party is great fun for Nate until his friend’s dog
disappears! Help Nate track down the missing
pooch, and learn all the tricks of the trade in a
special fun section for aspiring detectives.
❑ Nate the Great and the Monster Mess: Nate
loves his mother’s deliciously spooky Monster
Cookies, but the recipe has vanished! This is one
case Nate and his growling stomach can’t afford
to lose.
❑ Nate the Great, San Francisco Detective: Nate
visits his cousin Olivia Sharp in the big city, but
it’s no vacation. Can he find a lost joke book in
time to save the world?
❑ Nate the Great and the Big Sniff: Nate depends
on his dog, Sludge, to help him solve all his cases.
But Nate is on his own this time, because Sludge
has disappeared! Can Nate solve the case and
recover his canine buddy?
❑ Nate the Great on the Owl Express: Nate
boards a train to guard Hoot, his cousin Olivia
Sharp’s pet owl. Then Hoot vanishes! Can Nate
find out whooo took the feathered creature?
❑ Nate the Great Talks Turkey: There’s a turkey
on the loose, with Nate, his cousin Olivia Sharp,
Sludge, and Claude in hot pursuit. Who will find
the runaway bird first?
❑ Nate the Great and the Hungry Book Club:
Rosamond has started a book club. Nate and his
dog, Sludge, attend a meeting as undercover
detectives. The case: find out what “monster” has
an appetite for ripping book pages and making
others go missing.
MARJORIE WEINMAN SHARMAT was born and grew up in Portland, Maine. She has been writing since age eight and is the author of more than 130 books, which have been translated into nineteen languages. She is probably best known as the creator of the series about the world-famous sleuth Nate the Great.
MITCHELL SHARMAT, was a native of Brookline, Massachusetts, and a graduate of Harvard University. He wrote numerous picture books, easy readers, and novels, and was a contributor to textbook reading programs. His wildly popular Gregory, the Terrible Eater, a Reading Rainbow Feature Selection, has become a children’s classic.
JODY WHEELER developed a greater-than-average interest in children’s books at an early age, having been influenced and encouraged by her great-aunt Opal Wheeler, a prolific writer of books for young readers in the 1950s. Since being trained as a fine artist and educator, Jody has enjoyed working on projects ranging from picture books to educational texts and magazines, and from greeting cards to coloring books. Jody Wheeler divides her time between Manhattan and Siesta Key, Florida.