Nate the Great on the Owl Express

Nate the Great #19

by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat, Mitchell Sharmat, Martha Weston (Illustrator)

All aboard the Owl Express! Nate, the great detective, and his dog Sludge, hit the rails on their latest case. Their To guard an owl named Hoot. Hoot belongs to Nate’s cousin, Olivia Sharp, and she thinks someone on the train might be out to get her feathered friend. But whooo? Sludge keeps an eye on the owl’s cage while Nate snoops for clues. Then Hoot disappears! With many suspects to question, and many places to look, Nate knows one thing for sure—being the bodyguard to a little bird is a lot more work than he ever imagined! As the train races toward its final stop, can Nate sort out the mystery of the vanishing owl?

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Picture Books, Chapter Books, Trains, Fiction

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Marjorie Weinman Sharmat was an American children's writer. She wrote more than 130 books for children and teens and her books have been translated into several languages. They have won awards including Book of the Year by the Library of Congress or have become selections by the Literary Guild.
Perhaps Sharmat's most popular work features the child detective Nate the Great. He was inspired by and named after her father, who lived to see the first Nate book published. One story, Nate the Great Goes Undercover, was adapted as a made-for-TV movie that won the Los Angeles International Children's Film Festival Award. Sharmat's husband Mitchell Sharmat expanded Nate's storyline by creating Olivia Sharp, his cousin and fellow detective. Husband and wife wrote four Olivia Sharp books published 1989 to 1991. During the 1990s, their son Craig Sharmat (then in his thirties) wrote three Nate books with his mother. In the late 2010s, their other son Andrew Sharmat co-wrote the last two Nate books written while Marjorie Weinman Sharmat was alive. With Marjorie Weinman Sharmat's passing in 2019 Andrew has continued writing the series with Nate the Great and the Earth Day Robot (2021).
In the mid-1980s Sharmat wrote three books published in 1984 and 1985 under the pseudonym Wendy Andrews.
Sharmat also wrote the Sorority Sisters series, eight short novels published in 1986 and 1987. They are romantic fiction with a sense of humor. They are set in a California public high school (day school for ages 14 to 18, approximately).

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book because I liked the part when Nate the great solved the case by not solving the case. I kind of liked this book because I kind of like Nate the great books.

[Michael Guillot · Rating 2 out of 5]

The later Nate the Great books are not as good as the earlier ones.
This is not a clue.
This is a fact.
I, Michael, say so.
So.
There.

[Jane Maple · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is cute in its elementary school take on the Orient Express, but I am really not a fan of the character of Olivia Sharp. I don't think she is a good role model for kids.

When the story first starts, Nate is on a train guarding Olivia's pet owl Hoot. Olivia wants a body guard for Hoot because she got a message that said "It will be a happy day when Hoot the owl flies away. Your Neighbor." Hoot's cage is covered when Nate boards the train. Olivia explains she wants him to get a good day's sleep. Nate begins to explore the train he finds a woman on the train who admits to living in Olivia's building and saying she doesn't like Hoot because Hoot makes her sneeze. She also says two more people from her building are on the train. Nate finds one man, who is a musician, but he states that he likes Hoot since his hoots sound like music. Nate finds the other man who is called the Owl Man because he looks like an owl. The Owl Man does not like Hoot since people tell him that he looks like Hoot's big brother. Nate falls asleep and is woken by his friends Annie and Rosamond in dreams. Nate lifts the cage cover. Hoot is gone. Nate realizes that the cage was too clean and that Hoot was never inside. Nate finds out that Olivia is on the train as well. She asks if Nate has solved the case. He gets the three neighbors together. He verifies that the woman would sneeze if Hoot was there or not so she does not dislike Hoot. The man likes dressing as an Owl or else he wouldn't do it. It was the musician who was actually trying to write a get well note but because he tried to make it rhyme it sounded negative.

Extra Activities: Notes on Owls; Notes on Trains; Notes on Guarding Things (facts about the Buckingham guards and Fort Knox); owl quiz; owl and train jokes; chocolate Nests recipe; how to make a pinecone owl; How to make a Twinkie train; Train words defined (like caboose and cowcatcher).

[Caryll · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a young reader’s mystery book, and the protagonist Nate the Great wows with his detective skills. The mystery behind who wrote the note was interesting and had me following along until the twist at the end. I appreciate that it reads more on the comical side rather than a mysterious thriller. This book also includes great literary features for beginning chapter book readers to build their reading comprehension on. The end of the book includes Nate’s detective notes and more information about owls and trains, as well as other activities to provide deeper learner opportunities for students. Nate the Great on the Owl Express is also part of the Nate the Great series, so if a student loves this book, there are other mysteries they can solve with Nate the Great and his lovable dog Sludge.
I would include this as a book club choice in a third grade classroom. As students read, they can keep their own detective notes to solve the mystery before the end of the book. Students can also practice their predicting and inferring skills, writing a prediction before each assigned section of reading. This book could also be used in small-group guided reading to assess and build reading comprehension skills. Since it’s a mystery, students may be more likely to engage with this book in searching for clues to solve the mystery.

[Zada · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book keeps the reader interested by having them always wonder what will come next in the book. This book can get a reader really involved in trying to solve the mystery themselves. This book would be good for the lower leveled grades as a first mystery series. It makes for a good transition from picture books to chapter books. It also has a cool feature of Nate's mystery notebook at the end of the story. This can give kids an insight on Nate's thinking during the book and also give good facts and information.
Grade Level: 1-4

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nate is hired to guard an owl traveling by train to the vet because the owl has received a threat letter. Nate narrows the passengers down to three suspects and discovers through character study who wrote the letter.

I wonder, with the train and all, if this was supposed to be the first grade version of Murder on the Orient Express.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nate is back in San Francisco with his cousin. She has a pet owl. Somebody in her building has left a threatening note about the owl. Now the owl needs to go to a special vet in San Diego and she wants Nate to play bodyguard for it. I guess there are detective stories where the detective works as a bodyguard.

[Mr.Zhou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Olivia Sharp is truly sharp!And the musician really did a terrible job just to make a rhyme.

[Moriah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Where are Nate's parents or guardians

[Matthew C Koonts · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hoot and a half. My mystery-loving daughter read it to me.

[Chris Hays · Rating 5 out of 5]

A solid mystery for kids.

[Mercedes Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nate the Great on the Owl Express is about Nate the Great’s cousin Oliva’s pet owl. Nate went to visit his cousin in San Francisco. The owl has to go to the veterinarian. She asked Nate to take her owl to the veterinarian in Los Angeles. She was also upset that someone in her neighborhood wanted to steal her owl. Some of her neighbors did not like her owl. She received a note saying I hope your owl flies away. It was signed your neighbor. So Nate was helping her find out who wanted to get rid of her owl. And take her to the doctor. Nate and his dog Sludge got on the train to take the owl to the doctor. There were some of her neighbors on the train. Nate asked some of the passengers if they knew the owl. He found out that three passengers knew the owl. Nate was tired and went back to his room to rest. Nate fell asleep. When he woke up the owl was missing. There were a lot of people on the train. Nate started asking the passengers about the owl. No one had seen the owl. This case was really tricky. And the owl was never in danger. Nate solved another case that really wasn’t a case.

[Kcrosland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that Nate and his dog Sludge are great detectives. His cousin Olivia is a detective to she gave them a case to solve that involved her pet owl Hoot and a note. The case took the detectives on a train ride. On the train were some of Olivia neighbors the old lady,a musician, and the owl man. When Nate fell asleep in his room I knew something was going to happen. When he awoke and saw that the owl was missing, I though that the limo driver took Hoot, because when Nate and Sludge got into the limo the cage was covered and sitting in the front seat with the driver who told them to keep the cage covered because Hoot needs to sleep. When Nate was asking people on the train did they know Hoot some of people did not know who he was. Once Olivia and Nate got together thats when Nate solved the case and found out who wrote the note, the musician who likes writing rhymes. The musician said he was having trouble finding a word to rhyme with day, it was suppose to be a friendly get well note.

[Mango · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nate the Great books aren't that great. I hated them when I was a kid, yet I would always read them.The endings of the books were always the same, they figured out what or who did it. And where are Nate's parents? They just let their son walk around everywhere and question people. That is very irresponsible of them. Nate the Great books always made me fall asleep and always wasted my time. I would not recommend this book to anyone, especially little kids. If kids want real mystery, they should read Sherlock Homes.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nate the Great solves another mystery. This time the story also includes his cousin Olivia, another detective. She involves Nate in her effort to protect her pet owl from danger while traveling along the California coast on a train. As always, Nate is cynical, funny and eats pancakes along the way. Our girls love "Nate the Great."

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave it four stars because I liked pancake time, and the pancakes were loaded in a blanket of syrup. Every time people said "on the train" they meant on top of the train. The setting was the owl express, which is a train. An owl named Hoot was missing. Nate and Sludge were supposed to be the body guards for the owl. In the end, they found the owl on top of the train!

[Marta-Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read for kids transitioning into chapter books. As always, Nate the Great provides a cute and cunning detective mystery. The additional info and activities found at the end are reminiscent og the Magic Tree House books by providing the reader with additional information about aspects of the book, in this case, owls, trains, and guarding important things.

[Ameryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've loved all the Nate the Great books so far, and this one is no exception. I like that the books are kid (and animal) centric. I can't wait until Lucas is older and he can read these to himself, as well as do some of the activities in the back.

[Mrs.Capuano · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good transition from picture book to mystery fiction. Nate the Great is an entertaining character, and the case is solved! It could be good for teaching about assumptions, inference, or inquiry.

[Shannon Bradbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Nate The Great! They are really fun stories about a young boy detective who solves cases with his friends. They are always really engaging and interesting. I liked this one about him solving a case about an owl. Highly recommend to boys!

[Dylan & Belle at LearnPlayFun · Rating 5 out of 5]

This mystery is about Nate the Great on the Owl Express. Nate has to guard the owl. He finds out that nobody took took the owl. My favorite part was when Hoot was on top of the train.

[carrietracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a really simple chapter book this was pretty cute and actually funny in parts.

[Seth · Rating 5 out of 5]

There wasn't a case but who needed to go on the train? Who is the owl?

[Kaethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I wrote re: another Nate, they suit young readers at a particular time, and I like Rosamunde and her cats

Library copy

[Carolyn Shields · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those things where I was at a friend's house and I just picked up a book and read it...

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read all by myself

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read with my daughter, Abigail, as we read our way through the entire series.