Nate the Great Goes Down in the Dumps Read online

  “See?”

  I leaned down and picked up the crate.

  And there, under it, was Rosamond’s box!

  “My box!” Rosamond said.

  “It was inside my crate.”

  “Yes. Claude put the crate over the box,

  but he didn’t know it.”

  Rosamond picked up her box.

  “Why didn’t he know it?” she asked.

  “Claude told me he was carrying

  the crate near his stomach,” I said,

  “and he was looking for you

  at the same time.

  That meant he was looking

  above the crate.

  But what was happening below?

  Claude did not know.

  Claude did not look down.

  Claude did not look down

  when he put the crate over the box!

  Then he started to run.

  He fell. He kicked over the cans.

  And that’s when he noticed that

  the box wasn’t there.

  After he had made it disappear.”

  “That’s the last time I’ll ask Claude

  to help me,” Rosamond said.

  “Claude will be glad to hear that,”

  I said.

  Rosamond hugged her box.

  “But how did you figure this out?”

  “There were many clues,” I said,

  “but I didn’t know it.

  You told me that your box

  was smaller than your crate.

  That was a clue.”

  Rosamond was squeezing her box.

  “Tell me more clues,” she said.

  “I saw crates in the supermarket,”

  I said. “I figured you got your

  BANANAS crate there.”

  “I bought lots and lots of bananas

  at the supermarket,” Rosamond said,

  “until the banana crate was empty.

  Then they gave it to me.”

  “I, Nate the Great, noticed that

  all the crates at the supermarket

  had an open top. That meant that

  your crate must have an open top.

  But you kept your crate upside down

  to sit on.

  The open top was at the bottom.

  And it fit right over your box

  and hid it.”

  Rosamond was all excited.

  She was crushing her famous box.

  I had done all my hard work

  for a crushed box.

  But my work was over.

  I said, “I solved the case

  when Sludge and I were at the dump

  and I told him not to look down.

  Not looking down was the key clue.”

  “You went to the dump for me!”

  Rosamond exclaimed.

  “I must do something for you.

  I will read your future

  two times for free. Three times.

  Ten times. I will give you

  as many futures

  as you want.”

  “I can read my own future,” I said.

  I gazed into the crystal ball.

  “I see a detective and his dog,” I said.

  “They are going to disappear.”

  And that’s what Sludge and I did.

  Nate’s Notes: What’s Down in the Dumps?

  Nate’s Notes: Unusual Pets

  Nate’s Notes: Pennies

  Nate’s Notes: Penny Campaigns

  Make Your Own Money Box

  Funny Pages

  How to Make Puzzle Cupcakes

  Rosamond has a special money box with her name on it. You can make one too.

  Ask an adult to help you.

  GET TOGETHER:

  • an empty tissue box

  • construction paper

  • a pencil

  • scissors

  • glue

  • old magazines

  MAKE YOUR BOX:

  1. Using the pencil, trace around each side of the box on the construction paper.

  2. Cut out the pieces.

  3. Glue each piece onto the matching side of the box. One piece will cover the hole in the top.

  4. Have an adult use the scissors to cut around three sides of the box about an inch from the top. Bend back the cardboard on the attached side so that the box opens and closes.

  5. Decorate your box! Use letters cut from a magazine to make a name collage. Or look for the letters to spell MONEY BOX, PRIVATE, or KEEP OUT.

  6. Look in the magazines for other images related to money. You might find locks and keys, dollar signs, or piggy banks. Cut them out and glue them to your box.

  Q: Where do fortune-tellers dance?

  A: At the crystal ball.

  Q: Where did the fortune-teller go on her vacation?

  A: Palm Beach.

  Q: What do you call a short fortune-teller who escapes from prison?

  A: A small medium at large!

  Q: What has a head and a tail but no body?

  A: A penny!

  Q: Where can you get change in the forest?

  A: A skunk usually has some scents.

  Q: What do you give your money when it’s sick?

  A: Penny-cillin.

  Nate likes solving mysteries. He also likes puzzle cupcakes.

  You need an oven to bake the cupcakes. Ask an adult to help you with this recipe.

  Makes eighteen cupcakes.

  GET TOGETHER:

  • one package of cake mix (any flavor)

  • the ingredients listed on the box (usually you’ll need water, oil, and eggs)

  • a mixing bowl

  • an electric mixer

  • a large cake pan (9 inches by 13 inches)

  • 18 paper cupcake cups

  • 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

  • a flour sifter

  MAKE YOUR CUPCAKES:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Prepare the cake mix. Look on the box for the directions.

  3. Put the cupcake cups in the pan.

  4. Fill each cup about halfway.

  5. Bake 30 minutes.

  6. Cool completely. Your cupcakes should be funny shapes—like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

  7. Put the powdered sugar in the sifter. Sift the sugar over the cupcakes.

  8. Separate the cupcakes. Try to put the puzzle back together.

  9. Give up and eat!

  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 world’s 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 sp
ecial 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. Marc Simont lives in West Cornwall, Connecticut.