Nate the Great and the Mushy Valentine

Nate the Great #15

by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat, Marc Simont (Illustrator)

Nate the Great hates mushy stuff. But when he spies a big red paper heart taped to the outside of Sludge's doghouse, Nate knows he must help out his favorite pooch. Wh has left Sludge a secret valentine?

It's a mystery until Nate finds out his friend Annie is missing a valentine. The case seems easy. Nate is relieved. No more mushy stuff. That's what he thinks.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Childrens, Holiday, Picture Books, Chapter Books, Juvenile

36 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1993

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

[Melanie Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me just say that my 7 yr. old son has read A LOT of Nate The Great books. We had a book party for this book just before Valentines day. We had a friend that is named Nate dress up as Nate The Great and greet the kids as they came, give them their detective hats and magnifying glass, then take them on a "treasure hunt" that included a pancake breakfast break then ended with them finding Sludge (the treasure which was a dog stuffed animal for each child--really cheap ones). They did some of the activities that are found at the end of the book and we read a book about Valentines day. We had sooo much fun!

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and fun! The little mystery adds an interesting element to the usual "kids making Valentine's" theme and Nate is so funny and determined and "great." I think this one would especially appeal to boys.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book in this series!

[Jane Maple · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nate walks over to Sludge's dog house and finds he has a valentine which says "I love you Sludge more than Fudge." It was signed with the initials ABH. Annie comes over and says that she can't find a valentine she made and that Nate must find it. Nate amends his note to his mom to say that he has two valentine cases. Annie and Rosamond were making valentwins - valentines that look exactly alike - a big red heart and written across it I Love You. Annie was about to sign hers and give it to her little brother, but Fang looked hungry and when she got done feeding him the valentine was gone. Nate searches Annie's room but can't find the valentine. Annie says the only other person home was Harry and that he doesn't like getting valentines although Annie wanted to make him one since she likes giving Valentines. Nate goes over to Rosamond's house and says that Sludge's valentine was made by Rosamond and signed ABH for A Big Hex but she tells him that is not correct. Rosamond said she made her valentine for a person and that right now she was trying to make a valentine out of liver for her cats. Nate has pancakes and then figures out that after Annie wrote an 'A' on her valentine and then stopped to feed Fang that Harry came in and took the valentine and changed it in to Fudge's valentine and signed it ABH for Annie's Brother Harry. When Nate gets home he sees that Rosamond left him a valentine that says "I love you Nate because you're great." Nate goes into Sludge's doghouse to hide from the valentine.

Extras: Facts about Valentine's Day; Valentine's Smarts Quiz; Valentine's Riddles; How to Make Love Bugs; Annie's Chocolate Dip Recipe; Jell-O Heart's recipe; Make a Puppy Love pendant; how to make a grass heart; mailing a valentine; how valentines travel

[Cheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nate the Great and the Mushy Valentine is a really cute children's mystery story for Valentine's Day. One thing I like about Nate the Great is that he gets it wrong on his first couple of tries, but never gives up. I also like that I can easily fit in the entire story into one library class, which works well for a seasonal story. There are lots of cute details, for example, Rosamond's four black cats all being called different sized Hexes. Very enjoyable read for a kid.

[Shannon Bradbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the perfect book for grade school boys who hate all the mushy stuff about girls. Nate gets a Valentine and has to figure out who it’s from. Could it be sludge? You’ll have to read it to find out. My boys looved reading Nate The Great Series. A perfect kid mystery series for boys especially. We have enjoyed every one of them.

[nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes things are too good to throw away, so we change them into something different. Perhaps the sweetest out of the bunch. Things change as times change, and sometimes we can make them into something better, if we let them.

I wonder now if we could ever change things for the better. If there is space for a newness best for the both of us.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book because I like Valentine's Day. I also enjoyed this book because I liked the part when Nate the Great found out who sent a Valentine to Sludge. It was Harry.

[Rylee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was funny how he had to solve two cases at one time.

[Mr.Zhou · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good one.The ability of Nate to fit pieces are just so great.

[Avery Denault · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how he solves mysteries.

[WinterBat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute and fitting Valentine’s Day story for this series

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Someone leaves a valentine for Sludge. And Annie is missing a valentine. Could they be related? The answer was obvious, but my kids enjoyed that they could figure it out.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing in this is very stilted and awkwardly formal, since it rarely uses contractions. It kept throwing me off.

[Alyssa Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a sweet Valentine’s Day book featuring one of my favorite characters in the Nate the Great Universe. “I love you, Sludge, more than fudge!”

[Asho · Rating 4 out of 5]

L (7) chose this book from a Valentine's Day display at the bookmobile. F (3) ended up reading it with us, too. L liked it so much that we read it two days in a row. It's the perfect reading level for her right now. She prefers when I read it to her, but I made a deal with her that I'd read most of the book if she read a couple of pages at the beginning and the end, and she did that successfully. We thought the book was funny, and L is planning to look for more Nate the Great books at the library.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now that we've read this book, we've completed the entire Nate the Great series by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and Marc Simont. We started reading these stories a few years ago and our girls liked them a lot, especially our youngest. So it was a little bittersweet to conclude the series, but I thought that it would be nice to read this last one on Valentine's Day.

The story was interesting and fairly typical for the series. We enjoyed reading this story together and we are a little sad to say goodbye to Nate.

[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.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nate the Great, Junior Detective, doesn't like anything mushy, but when he spots a valentine on Sludge's doghouse he decides to find out who put it there. Annie asks him to find her missing valentine that she made for her brother Harry, so now he has two cases involving valentines. The clues are slim, but he puts on his detecting cap, has a plate of pancakes, and is off to solve this dual mystery.

[Lisa Cohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael, age 5, loves all the Nate the Great books. He likes this one because of all the silliness related to Valentine's Day--and all the confusion related to who gave who a valentine. It's one of the harder-to-solve Nate the Great mysteries, he says. Watch his YouTube book review here:
http://youtu.be/96Y-5HCVKdo

[Erin]

Read this to First Graders for Valentine's Day. Longer-than-a-picture-book, shorter-than-a-chapter-book style may have been a bit much, but many of them took out other Nate the Great books afterwards. I like Nate's voice and that he eats pancakes when he's thinking.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous story with a really hilarious ending. Loved it!

Also, the added bonus of the extra Valentine's day things make me wish I had a copy of the book so I could keep the recipes and craft ideas. This book is perfect to enjoy with your child for Valentine's Day. Highly recommended!

[Erin Bartos · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of my very favorite valentine's books.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nate the Great cannot face what is hanging on his door. Maybe it will fall off, rot, die. I gave this book to my valentine, my son, who was born on that very day eight years ago.

[Rachel Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Nate the Great as a child, and they still hold up surprisingly well.

[Eliza Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was two mysteries that were actually one. I liked both mysteries. They were so fun.

[Kelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great one! Love Nate's voice and so do my kids. at 2 and 4 it's great that something like this keeps them interested.

[Deborah Harris]

AR Quiz No. 9286 EN Fiction
Accelerated Reader Quiz Information IL: LG - BL: 3.0 - AR Pts: 0.5
Accelerated Reader Quiz Type Information AR Quiz Types: RP, VP

[Seth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sludge got a valentine that said I love you sludge more then fudge. Nate the great had to find out who it was from . It was from Harry.

[Earline · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Nate the Great's dog Sludge receives a mysterious valentine, Nate the Great is on the case.