More Beginning Mysteries: Nate the Great by Marjorie Sharmat

"Elementary, my dear Watson," must have been Marjorie Sharmat's watchword as she created the early grades' favorite detective, Nate the Great in 1972. With a series of nearly thirty titles, Sharmat is the Arthur Conan Doyle of beginning readers' mystery fiction.

Nate the Great is a pint-sized Sherlock who affects the deerstalker hat and trenchcoat of the classical detective genre. Occasionally aided by his dog Sludge, his friends Rosamond (and her cats) and Annie (and her dog Fang), and his San Francisco sleuthing cousin Olivia Sharp, Nate takes the power of observation seriously and in painstaking Holmesian style works out a trail of clues until each case is solved.

Distinctive charm is added by the trademark illustrations contributed by Caldecott winner Marc Simont to the first three-plus decades of the Nate series. Martha Weston has provided look-alike drawings for the most recent titles.

With Accelerated Reader grade levels between 2.0 and 3.1, the Nate the Great series are accessible and enjoyable for most fledgling independent readers. If you know a kid who likes to figure out the clues, this series is the classic starting point.