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NATE THE GREAT by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat

NATE THE GREAT

By

Pub Date: Oct. 1st, 1972
ISBN: 0812429958
Publisher: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan

What begins as a detective case for Nate the Great when Annie calls up and asks him to find the picture she made of her dog, ends up as a lesson in color -- not because Nate is blond and Annie and her little brother Harry are black, but because Annie's picture was yellow and Nate notices that one of the paintings displayed by Harry, who works only in red, is orange. Ergo, white male solves the case: ""Harry painted a red monster over the yellow picture of your dog."" Sharmat's short sentences are snappy rather than choppy as in most easy readers and Simont's Nate is fetching in collar-up trench coat and plaid sleuthing cap, but unfortunately the detective outfit is not the only stereotype projected here.