Nate the Great and the Halloween Hunt Read online

and a sheet tonight.

  When you’re scared,

  you might hide under something.

  Sludge gave me that clue twice.”

  Rosamond stroked Little Hex.

  “But how did you know that

  Little Hex was hiding

  in my basket?” she asked.

  “He could have been hiding anywhere.”

  “You gave me the clue,” I said.

  “You told me that you and Annie

  started out together,

  doing Trick or Treat.

  When you got to my house,

  Annie had room in her basket

  for treats, but you said

  your basket was too heavy.

  How come your basket

  was heavier than Annie’s?

  They should have been the same

  because you both went to

  the same places.

  I, Nate the Great,

  say that your basket

  was full of Little Hex

  and he was full of your treats.

  No wonder it was heavy.”

  “I’m so happy to have

  Little Hex back,” Rosamond said.

  “Let’s have a Halloween party

  to celebrate.

  I’ll go outside and invite

  everybody I see.”

  “Including your grandmother

  with the big teeth?” I asked.

  “Sure,” Rosamond said.

  “Fang probably collected more treats

  than anybody.”

  “I believe that,” I said.

  “But I will never be

  hungry enough to take

  food from Fang’s fangs.”

  Sludge and I left.

  The case was over.

  Halloween was almost over.

  No more hunting, no more haunting.

  What had caused all the

  clinking and clanking

  and shrieking

  in that old haunted house?

  I would never know.

  I, Nate the Great, say that

  some mysteries are better left

  unsolved.

  Nate’s Notes: Halloween Facts

  Nate’s Notes: Stuff about Cats 8

  Top 20 Halloween Costumes

  How to Make Your Own Face Paint

  How to Make Frozen Hand Fruit Punch

  Halloween Jokes

  How to Make Shrunken Heads

  Weird Facts about Giant Pumpkins

  Check out the most popular Halloween costumes.

  Notice: Fang did not make the list.

  1. Spider-Man

  2. Princess

  3. Witch

  4. Vampire

  5. Monster

  6. SpongeBob SquarePants

  7. Ninja

  8. Athlete

  9. Ghost

  10. Power Ranger

  11. Angel

  12. Pumpkin

  13. Batman

  14. Yugi, Tea, or another character from Yu-Gi-Oh!

  15. Singer

  16. Barbie

  17. character from the Harry Potter books

  18. Pirate

  19. Clown

  20. Firefighter

  Fun for Halloween. Good for disguises.

  GET TOGETHER:

  • 3 tablespoons diaper cream or Eucerin

  • 6 small paper cups

  • red, yellow, and blue gel food coloring*

  • craft sticks

  * Get permission first. Some food coloring may tint your skin a bit. Do a test to make sure your paint won’t stain your skin too much.

  MAKE YOUR FACE PAINT:

  1. Divide the diaper cream or Eucerin among three cups.

  2. Add a few drops of red food coloring to one cup. Stir with a craft stick. If the color is too pink, add another drop of coloring. Stir again. Repeat until you like the color.

  3. Use the same technique to make cups of blue and green paint.

  4. Experiment! Mix the red, blue, and yellow together to make other colors in the remaining cups.

  5. Paint some faces! See the next page for one idea. Or create your own design.

  red + yellow = orange

  yellow + blue = green

  blue + red = purple

  Serve this punch at a Halloween party. Your friends will give you a hand.

  Serves 20.

  STEP ONE: Make the Frozen Hands

  GET TOGETHER:

  • 3 or 4 rubber gloves

  • dish soap and a sponge

  • water

  • rubber bands

  • 4 clothespins

  MAKE YOUR HANDS:

  1. Wash the gloves thoroughly with soap. Carefully rinse off all the bubbles.

  2. Fill the hand part of a glove with water.

  3. Wrap a rubber band around the open part of the glove.

  4. Place the glove in the freezer. If possible, use a clothespin to clip it to a freezer shelf. Hang it with the fingers pointing down.

  5. Repeat for the other gloves.

  6. Leave the gloves in the freezer for at least one day. (You can do STEP TWO while you wait.)

  STEP TWO: Make the Punch

  GET TOGETHER:

  • a large bowl

  • a big spoon

  • 1 package strawberry Kool-Aid

  • 1 package cherry Kool-Aid

  • 2 cups sugar

  • 3 quarts water

  • 1 6-ounce can frozen orange juice

  • 1 6-ounce can frozen lemonade

  • 1 liter ginger ale

  MAKE YOUR PUNCH:

  1. In the bowl, mix together everything but the ginger ale.

  2. Just before serving, add the hands. Get the gloves out of the freezer. Quickly run them under warm water. Peel off each glove. (It’s okay if some of the fingers break off. Hands missing fingers look extra creepy!)

  3. Pour in the ginger ale.

  4. Serve. Drink. Make ghoulish jokes. Blah-ha-ha!

  Q: What do ghosts serve on Halloween?

  A: Ice scream.

  Q: What is a witch’s favorite subject?

  A: Spelling.

  Q: Why are mummies good students?

  A: They get wrapped up in their work.

  Q: What kind of music do mummies like?

  A: Wrap!

  Q: What is a vampire’s favorite holiday?

  A: Fangsgiving!

  Scarier than a jack-o’-lantern!

  Ask an adult to help you.

  GET TOGETHER:

  • one apple for each head

  • an apple peeler

  • a knife

  • 4 cups water

  • 2 tablespoons salt

  • a small bowl

  • a plate

  • craft eyes, cotton balls, and glue (if you want to decorate your head)

  MAKE YOUR SHRUNKEN HEAD:

  1. Peel the apple.

  2. Have an adult help you use the knife to carve eyes, a nose, and a mouth into your apple. Watch your fingers!

  3. Put the water and salt in the bowl. Stir well.

  4. Place the apple in the salt water for 24 hours.

  5. Take the apple out of the water. Put it on the plate. Find it a safe place away from pets. Let it dry for up to two weeks.

  6. If you want, decorate your head. Place craft eyes in the “eye sockets.” Glue cotton on top to make “hair.”

  7. Spook your friends!

  From 1979 to 1982, a farmer named Howard Dill grew the world’s biggest pumpkins. He spent 30 years breeding them to make them bigger. Now Dill sells pumpkin seeds on the Internet. They cost up to $8 each.

  In 1996, two people grew huge pumpkins. They weighed more than 1,000 pounds each. Each year, pumpkins get bigger! In 2004, the world record was 1,446 pounds. That pumpkin weighed about as much as a cow.

  Growing giant pumpkins is a fun hobby. It’s also serious business. One contest pays $50,000 for the biggest pumpkin.

  Growers work hard.
They dig huge growing pits. They mix batches of fertilizer and manure. They build shelters. Some put in cameras to protect their pumpkins from animals and vandals. And they water their pumpkins a lot—up to 1,000 gallons per day!

  A giant pumpkin can grow 20 pounds a day. The stress can cause them to split—or even explode! That’s bad news for the grower. Winning pumpkins cannot have any splits.

  What can you do with a giant pumpkin?

  • Display it at a Las Vegas casino!

  • Get it on TV!

  One thing you can’t do: make a giant pie. Giant pumpkins don’t taste good. And they’re not good for you. That’s because growers use lots of chemicals to kill pumpkin-eating bugs.

  Have you helped solve all

  Nate the Great’s mysteries?

  ❑ Nate the Great: Meet Nate, the great detective, and join him as he uses incredible sleuthing skills to solve his first big case.

  ❑ Nate the Great Goes Undercover: Who—or what—is raiding Oliver’s trash every night? Nate bravely hides out in his friend’s garbage can to catch the smelly crook.

  ❑ Nate the Great and the Lost List: Nate loves pancakes, but who ever heard of cats eating them? Is a strange recipe at the heart of this mystery?

  ❑ Nate the Great and the Phony Clue: Against ferocious cats, hostile adversaries, and a sly phony clue, Nate struggles to prove that he’s still the greatest detective.

  ❑ Nate the Great and the Sticky Case: Nate is stuck with his stickiest case yet as he hunts for his friend Claude’s valuable stegosaurus stamp.

  ❑ Nate the Great and the Missing Key: Nate isn’t afraid to look anywhere—even under the nose of his friend’s ferocious dog, Fang—to solve the case of the missing key.

  ❑ Nate the Great and the Snowy Trail: Nate has his work cut out for him when his friend Rosamond loses the birthday present she was going to give him. How can he find the present when Rosamond won’t even tell him what it is?

  ❑ Nate the Great and the Fishy Prize: The trophy for the Smartest Pet Contest has disappeared! Will Sludge, Nate’s clue-sniffing dog, help solve the case and prove he’s worthy of the prize?

  ❑ Nate the Great Stalks Stupidweed: When his friend Oliver loses his special plant, Nate searches high and low. Who knew a little weed could be so tricky?

  ❑ Nate the Great and the Boring Beach Bag: It’s no relaxing day at the beach for Nate and his trusty dog, Sludge, as they search through sand and surf for signs of a missing beach bag.

  ❑ Nate the Great Goes Down in the Dumps: Nate discovers that the only way to clean up this case is to visit the town dump. Detective work can sure get dirty!

  ❑ Nate the Great and the Halloween Hunt: It’s Halloween, but Nate isn’t trick-or-treating for candy. Can any of the witches, pirates, and robots he meets help him find a missing cat?

  ❑ Nate the Great and the Musical Note: Nate is used to looking for clues, not listening for them! When he gets caught in the middle of a musical riddle, can he hear his way out?

  ❑ Nate the Great and the Stolen Base: It’s not easy to track down a stolen base, and Nate’s hunt leads him to some strange places before he finds himself at bat once more.

  ❑ Nate the Great and the Pillowcase: When a pillowcase goes missing, Nate must venture into the dead of night to search for clues. Everyone sleeps easier knowing Nate the Great is on the case!

  ❑ Nate the Great and the Mushy Valentine: Nate hates mushy stuff. But when someone leaves a big heart taped to Sludge’s doghouse, Nate must help his favorite pooch discover his secret admirer.

  ❑ Nate the Great and the Tardy Tortoise: Where did the mysterious green tortoise in Nate’s yard come from? Nate needs all his patience to follow this slow … slow … clue.

  ❑ Nate the Great and the Crunchy Christmas: It’s Christmas, and Fang, Annie’s scary dog, is not feeling jolly. Can Nate find Fang’s crunchy Christmas mail before Fang crunches on him?

  ❑ Nate the Great Saves the King of Sweden: Can Nate solve his first-ever international case without leaving his own neighborhood?

  ❑ Nate the Great and Me: The Case of the Fleeing Fang: A surprise Happy Detective Day party is great fun for Nate until his friend’s dog disappears! Help Nate track down the missing pooch, and learn all the tricks of the trade in a special fun section for aspiring detectives.

  ❑ Nate the Great and the Monster Mess: Nate loves his mother’s deliciously spooky Monster Cookies, but the recipe has vanished! This is one case Nate and his growling stomach can’t afford to lose.

  ❑ Nate the Great, San Francisco Detective: Nate visits his cousin Olivia Sharp in the big city, but it’s no vacation. Can he find a lost joke book in time to save the world?

  ❑ Nate the Great and the Big Sniff: Nate depends on his dog, Sludge, to help him solve all his cases. But Nate is on his own this time, because Sludge has disappeared! Can Nate solve the case and recover his canine buddy?

  ❑ Nate the Great on the Owl Express: Nate boards a train to guard Hoot, his cousin Olivia Sharp’s pet owl. Then Hoot vanishes! Can Nate find out whooo took the feathered creature?

  ❑ Nate the Great Talks Turkey: There’s a turkey on the loose, with Nate, his cousin Olivia Sharp, Sludge, and Claude in hot pursuit. Who will find the runaway bird first?

  ❑ Nate the Great and the Hungry Book Club: Rosamond has started a book club. Nate and his dog, Sludge, attend a meeting as undercover detectives. The case: find out what “monster” has an appetite for ripping book pages and making others go missing.

  MARJORIE WEINMAN SHARMAT was born and grew up in Portland, Maine. She has been writing since age eight and is the author of more than 130 books, which have been translated into nineteen languages. She is probably best known as the creator of the series about the world-famous sleuth Nate the Great.

  MARC SIMONT won the Caldecott Medal for his artwork in A Tree Is Nice by Janice May Udry, as well as a Caldecott Honor for his own book, The Stray Dog. He illustrated the first twenty books in the Nate the Great series.