Nate the Great and the Boring Beach Bag Read online

  Praise for the

  series

  ★ “Kids will like Nate the Great.”

  —School Library Journal, Starred

  “The illustrations capture the exaggerated, tongue-in-cheek humor of the story.”

  —Booklist

  “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

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 1987 by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat

  Cover and interior illustrations copyright © 1987 by Marc Simont

  Extra Fun Activities text copyright © 2005 by Emily Costello

  Extra Fun Activities illustrations copyright © 2005 by Jody Wheeler

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Yearling, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. Originally published in paperback in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, New York, in 1987. Reprinted by arrangement with the Putnam and Grosset Group.

  Yearling and the jumping horse design are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

  Visit us on the Web! randomhousekids.com

  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at RHTeachersLibrarians.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

  ISBN 978-0-440-40168-1 (pbk.) — ISBN 978-0-385-37675-4 (ebook)

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

  v4.1i

  a

  To the beach of my childhood,

  Old Orchard Beach, Maine

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Nate the Great and the Boring Beach Bag

  Extra Fun Activities

  Learning with Nate

  About the Authors

  I, Nate, the great detective,

  was swimming in the ocean

  with my dog, Sludge.

  Someone was swimming behind us.

  It was Oliver.

  Oliver is always behind me.

  Oliver is a pest.

  He swam up beside me.

  “I lost my seashell,”

  he said. “I want you to find it.”

  “I, Nate the Great,

  do not look for seashells.

  If I did, I could find plenty

  of them on this beach.”

  “The seashell was in my beach bag,”

  Oliver said. “But that is gone, too.”

  “Your beach bag is gone?”

  “Yes,” Oliver said. “My clothes

  and shoes were in it.”

  “Your clothes and shoes, too?

  You need clothes.

  You need shoes.

  You need me.

  I, Nate the Great,

  will take your case.”

  Sludge, Oliver, and I swam to shore.

  We sat down on the sand.

  I took a pencil and a piece of paper

  out of my swimsuit pocket.

  I wrote a note to my mother.

  It was soggy and sandy.

  I hoped she could read it.

  I put the note in Sludge’s mouth.

  “Take this home

  and then come back,” I said.

  “Don’t stop to eat

  along the way.”

  Sludge ran off with the note.

  I hoped he would be back soon.

  I hoped he would be back.

  Oliver and I walked along the beach.

  “Show me where you last saw

  your beach bag,” I said.

  “I left it on the beach,”

  Oliver said, “while I bought

  a glass of water

  at Rosamond’s Restaurant.”

  “Rosamond has a restaurant?”

  “Yes. She is selling water,

  seaweed soup, and sandwiches.

  The sandwiches are filled with sand.

  She said that

  since they are called sandwiches,

  they should be made of sand.”

  “It figures,” I said.

  Oliver stopped.

  “When I got back

  to where I left my beach bag,

  it was gone. And here is where

  I left it.”

  “How do you know that?” I asked.

  “Because I left my beach ball

  beside it. And see, my beach ball

  is still here. Nobody took it.”

  “If someone took your beach bag,

  why would they leave your beach ball?”

  I asked. “Was there something special

  about your beach bag?

  What did it look like?”

  “It was blue.

  It was blank.

  It was boring,”

  Oliver said.

  “And it was bumpy

  from all the stuff inside it.”

  I, Nate the Great, looked down

  at the beach ball

  and the sand around it.

  “The sand is not pressed down

  where your beach bag was,” I said,

  “even though the bag was heavy

  with clothes, shoes,

  and a shell inside it.”

  “Is that a clue?” Oliver asked.

  “It may be an important clue

  or no clue at all,” I said.

  “Sand gets kicked around.

  Tell me, were you alone when

  you left your beach bag here?”

  “I was sitting all by myself,”

  Oliver said. “Then I saw

  Annie and her dog, Fang,

  running toward me.

  Whenever I see Fang

  running toward me,

  I run, too.

  I run away.

  I ran to Rosamond’s Restaurant.”

  “We will have to walk to

  Rosamond’s Restaurant,” I said.

  “We will look for clues

  and your boring beach bag

  along the way.”

  Oliver and I started to walk.

  The sun felt hot

  on my back.

  The sand felt scratchy

  between my toes.

  I was careful not to step

  on sand castles

  or ice cream sticks.

  I ducked beach balls in the air.

  I looked for Oliver’s beach bag.

  I also looked for Sludge.

  He should have been back by now.

  We passed a refreshment stand.

  I wondered if they served pancakes.

  I wanted to stop.

  But I had a case to solve.

  I saw Rosamond up ahead.

  She was sitting behind a crate.

  Sometimes people get strange

  sitting under a hot sun.

  But Rosamond is strange all the time.

  Rosamond’s four cats were asleep

  on the crate.

  Oliver and I walked up to her.

  “Have you seen Oliver’s

  boring beach bag?” I asked.

  “No,” Rosamond said. “I have been

  too busy with my restaurant.
/>
  Want to buy a sandwich or soup

  or a glass of water?”

  “No. I must find the beach bag.

  Oliver has no clothes, no shoes,

  and no seashell.”

  “Oh, dear,” Rosamond said.

  “I will give him some free water.

  And part of a sandwich.”

  Rosamond handed Oliver

  a glass of sandy water.

  I knew it was time to leave.

  Oliver and I started to walk back

  to where he said he had left

  his beach bag.

  “I did not find your beach bag

  between where you left it

  and Rosamond’s Restaurant,” I said.

  “I also did not find my dog.”

  I, Nate the Great, was thinking.

  Sludge must have stopped somewhere

  to eat.

  That sounded like a good idea.

  “I am going to stop

  at the refreshment stand,” I said.

  I walked up to the refreshment stand.

  Oliver followed me.

  Then he stopped.

  Suddenly I knew why.

  Annie’s dog, Fang, was tied

  to a post beside the stand.

  His teeth gleamed

  under the bright sun.

  He looked hungry.

  He looked at me.

  I did not want to stay.

  But Annie was there.

  Perhaps she had seen Oliver’s bag.

  I talked fast.

  “I am looking for Oliver’s

  beach bag,” I said.

  “It looks boring.

  Have you seen it?”

  “Yes, it was beside

  a beach ball,” Annie said.

  “Fang and I ran by it,

  just as Oliver ran off.

  Fang and I are running

  from one end of the beach

  to the other.

  I stopped for a snack.

  But Fang is trying to lose weight.

  He is on a diet.”

  “He is eating the post

  you tied him to,” I said.

  “But that is not on his diet!”

  Annie cried.

  She rushed to Fang

  and untied him.

  “Is a beach bag on his diet?”

  I asked.

  “Not today,” Annie said.

  Annie and Fang ran off.

  They ran in the opposite direction

  from Rosamond’s Restaurant.

  Fang was not so hungry

  that he would eat a sandwich

  made of sand.

  I, Nate the Great, was hungry.

  I ate some pancakes

  at the refreshment stand

  and thought about the case.

  There was not much to think about.

  I did not have one clue

  that I knew was a clue.

  I also did not have a dog.

  Where was Sludge?

  Suddenly I saw him on the beach.

  He was with Oliver.

  I finished my pancakes fast.

  I went up to Sludge and Oliver.

  Sludge was still holding my note

  in his mouth.

  He looked hot and tired.

  “You were supposed to take

  that note home,” I said.

  Perhaps Sludge did not know

  where home was.

  The beach looks the same

  for miles and miles.

  Sand and water.

  All that sand

  and all that water

  must have mixed him up.

  Sludge sat down and rested.

  Oliver and I sat with him.

  Then Sludge ran into the water

  to cool off.

  The water.

  I had been looking for Oliver’s

  beach bag on land.

  But what if it was in the water?

  I ran into the water.

  I swam here.

  I swam there.

  I looked and looked

  for Oliver’s beach bag.

  All of a sudden I saw it!

  It was bobbing in the water

  up ahead.

  A bump.

  A big blue bump.

  Sludge and I swam up to it.

  I grabbed it.

  It was not Oliver’s beach bag.

  It was Esmeralda’s head.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “I am looking for Oliver’s

  beach bag,” I said.

  “Oliver!” cried Esmeralda.

  “I am hiding from him.

  He follows me everywhere.

  On land.

  On sea.

  And here he comes!”

  Esmeralda swam away.

  Oliver swam up.

  “Did you find my beach bag?”

  he asked.

  “Not yet,” I said.

  “I will follow you

  until you solve the case,”

  Oliver said.

  “And even after I solve the case,”

  I said.

  Sludge and I swam to shore.

  Oliver swam to shore.

  Sludge and I stretched out

  on the sand.

  Oliver stretched out

  on the sand behind us.

  He had given me a tough case.

  Nobody had given me any clues.

  Or had they?

  There was no dent in the sand

  from Oliver’s beach bag.

  What if it meant something?

  What if it meant that

  Oliver’s beach bag

  had never been there?

  But Oliver said it had.

  What else did he say?

  He said that Annie and Fang

  were running toward him

  just before he left

  his beach bag and beach ball

  and ran to Rosamond’s Restaurant.

  I, Nate the Great, got a stick.

  I smoothed out some sand.

  Then I drew a map in it.

  I marked where Oliver’s beach ball was.

  I marked Rosamond’s Restaurant.

  I marked the refreshment stand,

  which was between them.

  I had seen Annie and Fang

  at the refreshment stand.

  Annie said that they were running

  from one end of the beach

  to the other.

  She said they had run past

  Oliver’s beach bag and ball.

  I looked at my map.

  First there was the beach ball.

  Then the refreshment stand.

  Then Rosamond’s Restaurant.

  When Annie and Fang left

  the refreshment stand,

  they should have run

  toward Rosamond’s Restaurant.

  But they ran in the opposite direction.

  Why?

  I, Nate the Great, was stumped.

  I looked at Sludge.

  Sludge always helps with my cases.

  But all the sand and water

  had mixed him up this time.

  Did Annie and Fang get mixed up?

  No. Annie would not

  get mixed up.

  I looked at Oliver.

  It would be easy

  for him to get mixed up.

  He was always following someone.

  I kicked some sand.

  I ducked a beach ball.

  I thought.

  Hmm.

  “Oliver,” I said.

  “I think I know

  where your beach bag is.

  Follow me.”

  “Of course,” Oliver said.

  Sludge and I walked

  to Rosamond’s Restaurant.

  We walked past Rosamond’s Restaurant.

  “Wait!” Oliver said.

  “You are going very far away

  fr
om where I left my beach bag.”

  I, Nate the Great, kept on walking.

  Up ahead I saw something in the sand.

  I ran up to it.

  It was a beach bag.

  It was blue.

  It was blank.

  It was bumpy.

  It was boring.

  It was Oliver’s beach bag.

  “My beach bag!” Oliver cried.

  “What is it doing here?”

  “It was always here,” I said.

  “No one took it.

  But someone took your beach ball.

  Someone picked it up and threw it.

  Or kicked it. Or carried it.

  And I think it got thrown or kicked

  again and again.

  It landed a long way

  from where you left it.

  The sand was not pressed down

  next to where you found

  your beach ball

  because your beach bag

  had never been there.

  But Annie gave me the big clue.

  She and Fang are running

  from one end of the beach

  to the other.

  I saw them run

  toward the place

  where you said you had left

  your beach bag and ball.

  But she had already seen

  your ball and bag.

  How could she see them

  when she had not yet reached the place

  where you said you had left them?

  She or you had to be wrong.”

  “So you picked me?” Oliver asked.

  “Yes, I, Nate the Great, picked you.

  After someone almost hit me

  on the head

  with a beach ball.

  That is when I thought

  that the ball, not the bag,

  had moved.

  You left your beach bag

  and beach ball here.

  You went to Rosamond’s Restaurant