Nate the Great and the Musical Note

Nate the Great #13

by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat, Craig Sharmat

Join the world’s greatest detective, Nate the Great, as he solves the mystery of a strange musical note! Perfect for beginning readers and the Common Core, this long-running chapter book series will encourage children to problem-solve with Nate, using logical thinking to solve mysteries!   

Nate the Great has just received a strange musical note. The note tells Nate's friend Pip what his mother wants him to do at four o'clock. Their friend Rosamond has turned the note into a riddle. Nate checks Rosamond's garage, but doesn't find any clues. Time is running out for Nate and his dog, Sludge. It's almost four o'clock. Will Nate the Great stay stuck in the middle of this musical riddle?

Visit Nate the Great and Sludge!
NatetheGreatBooks.com
 
Praise for the Nate the Great Series
 
★ “Kids will like Nate the Great.” — School Library Journal, Starred
 
“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

Genres: Mystery, Childrens, Fiction, Picture Books, Music, Kids, Chapter Books

48 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 1990

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

[Vernon Area Public Library KIDS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meet Nate the Great, a detective who received a strange musical note! With the help of his loyal dog, Sludge, will Nate solve the mystery in time?  Nate the Great books are wonderful for beginning readers.

Reviewed by: Debbie Hersh, Circulation, Vernon Area Public Library

[Mr. Cody · Rating 3 out of 5]

C-Note

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is rated 4.5 stars not just 4 stars. I enjoyed this book because I like piano. I also enjoyed this book because I like mysteries. I also enjoyed this book because I liked the part when Nate the Great figured out the mystery of the musical note by Sludge's great clue.

[midnightfaerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book my 6 yr old loved, a little old for my preschoolers. A solid reading level 2 book, this reader has a good amount of advanced vocabulary words, but not so long that it discourages a new reader. Used it for his read out loud book, which was perfect. It took about 15 mins for him to read and had just enough new vocabulary words to make it challenging. Also, it was a fun and interesting story he could get into. He liked it so much, he asked for more by this author. Great reading book!

[Jane Maple · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rosamond gives Pip a note that states "Your mother phoned. At four o'clock when your lesson is through this is what you have to do. A note. Step left until you reach the middle. Step up and you will solve this riddle." Pip goes to Nate to try to solve this riddle. Nate goes over to Rosamond's house Annie (and Fang) are playing the piano. Rosamond is out buying stars to give people that have a good lesson. Nate thinks through the case and wonders if it means that Pip should be standing on the stage in Rosamond's garage at 4 o'clock. Rosamond comes home and explains it was a musical riddle then she has Nate sit down and she gives him a music lesson. Nate doesn't want a music lesson, but Rosamond teaches him about Middle C, the letters in an octave and sharps and flats before he runs away from Rosamond's garage. As Nate and Pip depart, Rosamond comes after them and combs Pip's hair out of his eyes. Nate goes to the park, has pancakes and thinks and figures out that the answer is C Sharp but doesn't know what it means. But when Pip trips over Sludge he realizes Pip's mom wants him to see sharp (to get a haircut).

Extras: Facts about Pianos; Notes about fingerprints; how to make your own musical instrument (a rain stick); jokes about music; how to lift a fingerprint; types of fingerprints; and more jokes (many about dancing)

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Most of the Nate the Great books are pretty predictable but not this one. I figured the riddle had something to do with the steps on a piano but the final message would be way too hard for a kid to figure out on their own. This was probably my least favorite Nate the Great book my family has read thus far. Even my 4 year old said, "This book is awful."

[Rereader · Rating 4 out of 5]

2022 Mad March Mystery Reading Challenge
Prompt: a non-murder mystery

This was fun! Always fun to reread a childhood fave! I was pretty impressed with how the mystery was established, progressed, and eventually solved considering this is for kids. And Rosamond is an absolute delight, I would reread the whole series just for her. A fun start to this challenge!

[Michael Guillot · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't believe Nate shows ass in installment #13. Wow.

Rosamond is a little punk ass witch she's so extra! All the time! This one was a stretch, but I also think it's Nate at his funniest yet.

I think I'm getting a Nate the Great/Sludge/Pancakes tattoo. I think so.

[nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I imagined jazz, but really I’m sure it’s just booms and crashes on keys in this fun number. I imagine moving music notes on title cards and fun inserts of Rosamond and Pip. This is a fun friends episode that illuminates the larger world of Nate the Great’s neighborhood.

[Autumn Kearney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love music and mysteries, so I love this book. Nate is a little grumpy, as usual. I laughed out loud when Nate said that this case was as flat as his pancakes. I am guessing that he eats them in every book. :)

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

The weakest mystery so far. Rosamond leaves Pip a note with a riddle, and Pip asks Nate to solve the riddle. But Rosamond is right there for half of the book and just refuses to tell the answer. And solving the riddle or not doesn't change the outcome.

[WriteTheVision · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blah. My students didn't seem too into it either. The clue was kind of whack.

[WinterBat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little more heady and roundabout, and the pun was a bit of a stretch

[aem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely for the juvenile set

[Serika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the book.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually didn't have this one figured out 🤣

[Devorah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like when Pip was getting piano lessons and when Nate thought his dog was dancing ( he was really getting away from a bee)
I liked this book a lot.
I would recommend that you read it.

[Sally Kilpatrick]

I think we could all solve more of life’s mysteries if we stopped to eat pancakes.

[Ms. B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nate says it best, it's a strange case. What can the strange note that Pip receives from his piano teacher mean?

[Will.m · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was okay but pancakes was a major mistake because the story was about a musical note. How does pancakes go with the story? That was a screw up. Heres another screw up why would you only give it 48 pages. I mean I had a picture book that had 60 pages. That, my friend, is not a chapter book. A chapter book is seventy or heck 100 pages you call that a chapter book gosh. There were things that were wrong incomplete sentences,wrong spelling , things that don't make sense like this from the story I need pancakes pancakes help me think. That you never do it was not interesting at all if i were the teacher i would give this book an c- It was straight up boring. Never get this book ever.

[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]

We had fun figuring out the solution to the puzzle in this book in the Nate the Great series by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat. We've really enjoyed the books in this series and this was another strange, but fun story. We also enjoyed the "Extra - Fun Activities" section in this book, with facts, jokes, and craft ideas.

[Amy Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nate the Great series is great for kids who want a chapter book but aren't ready to get books off of the first chapter display. It's a nice bridge between readers and first chapter books. This one has fun facts about pianos and finger prints in the back plus instructions on how to make a musical instrument and musical jokes. AR 2.9

[Anthony]

when pip hands nate a musical note from rosamond,the young dectective is baffled.it's massage from pip's mother, but rosamond has turned it into a ridle.nate has only until four o'clock to solve it, but there are several musical clues in his most noted case yet,nate must sacale new heights to beat the deadline.can he do it

[Julian · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a longer book than usual.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great mystery series for young detectives.

[Will Mccray · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite part was when nate ran out with pip it was realy good I would give It a a+ If Iw were the teacher


will.m

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little boring.

[Cherie]

I liked it. Pip came to Nate the great's house. He went to Rosamond's house. She was not there. They walked into her garage.

[Aarong · Rating 2 out of 5]

nate the great is ecsiting and a big mitrey