Close Modal

Nate the Great and the Missing Key

Illustrated by Marc Simont
Look inside
Paperback
$5.99 US
5.13"W x 7.63"H x 0.24"D   | 4 oz | 48 per carton
On sale Aug 15, 1982 | 80 Pages | 978-0-440-46191-3
Age 6-9 years | Grades 1-4
Reading Level: Lexile 520L | Fountas & Pinnell K

Beginning readers are introduced to the detective mystery genre in these chapter books. Perfect for the Common Core, kids can problem-solve with Nate, using logical thinking to solve mysteries! 

Annie has lost her house key. Now she can’t set up for Fang’s birthday party. Nate doesn't want to go to a party for Annie's ferocious dog. But he can't resist a mystery. Nate the Great and his trusty dog, Sludge, are hot on the trail!

Check out the Fun Activities section in the back of the book! 

Visit Nate the Great and Sludge!
NatetheGreatBooks.com

“Casual and comic, Simont’s drawings are . . . lively, adding vitality to the brisk first-person account of yet another deductive triumph. . . . Satisfying, nicely structured and written, this can also be used for reading aloud to younger children.”—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

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
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 130 books for children of all ages, which have been translated into 17 languages. 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. View titles by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
Marc Simont (1915–2013) illustrated nearly a hundred books, among them James Thurber’s The 13 Clocks and a 1990 edition of Thurber’s Many Moons. He worked with such authors as Marjorie Weinman Sharmat (on the Nate the Great series) and Margaret Wise Brown and won both a Caldecott Honor and a Caldecott Medal for his illustrations of children’s books. View titles by Marc Simont

About

Beginning readers are introduced to the detective mystery genre in these chapter books. Perfect for the Common Core, kids can problem-solve with Nate, using logical thinking to solve mysteries! 

Annie has lost her house key. Now she can’t set up for Fang’s birthday party. Nate doesn't want to go to a party for Annie's ferocious dog. But he can't resist a mystery. Nate the Great and his trusty dog, Sludge, are hot on the trail!

Check out the Fun Activities section in the back of the book! 

Visit Nate the Great and Sludge!
NatetheGreatBooks.com

“Casual and comic, Simont’s drawings are . . . lively, adding vitality to the brisk first-person account of yet another deductive triumph. . . . Satisfying, nicely structured and written, this can also be used for reading aloud to younger children.”—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Praise

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

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 130 books for children of all ages, which have been translated into 17 languages. 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. View titles by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat
Marc Simont (1915–2013) illustrated nearly a hundred books, among them James Thurber’s The 13 Clocks and a 1990 edition of Thurber’s Many Moons. He worked with such authors as Marjorie Weinman Sharmat (on the Nate the Great series) and Margaret Wise Brown and won both a Caldecott Honor and a Caldecott Medal for his illustrations of children’s books. View titles by Marc Simont