Today I am sharing a new easy reader chapter book, and it has an Independence Day theme. It is part of the Nate the Great series. It is Nate the Great and the Star-Spangled Parrot by Andrew Sharmat and illustrated by Olga and Aleksey Ivanov. It is recommended for ages 6 to 9.
From the Publisher:
Nate the Great has been asked to help find his friend's parrot. It isn't just any parrot. And time is of the essence—the parrot and others are scheduled to perform at the upcoming 4th of July picnic. Nate the Great, along with his dog Sludge, are on the trail of clues and confident they can solve the case before the big day!Nate is working two cases at once! A double whammy in more ways than one way!
The annual 4th of July Picnic is two days away and decorations are going up in Deering Oaks Park. As Nate and Sludge stroll along, they run into their friend Pip and his parrot Prattles. Pip explains that he’s lost his other parrot—Penelope—a drone that he disguised as a parrot, as a friend for Prattles. Pip plans to sing the Star-Spangled Banner with Prattles and Penelope at the picnic so they don’t have much time.
The next day, Claude comes calling and asks Nate if he can help solve a case for him. He explains he’s lost Baxter, his drone parrot. A lightbulb goes off in Nate’s head--an idea that may very well lead to solving both cases at once.
What happens next is a mix-up of epic proportions, but in the end Nate’s smart thinking and problem-solving makes sense of it all. And on picnic day, Pip is able to sing his song with Prattles and Penelope, however a pig called Anastasia manages to somehow steal the show!
From Me:
In this sweet book Nate and his dog get a case well actually two cases that overlap. Nate's friend Pip asks him to help find his drone parrot, Penelope. After a big dog scare his real parrot, Prattles, and he get startled by a big dog, he loses control over Penelope, and it flies off to the woods. However, when he goes to find it, it is nowhere to be found. Nate joins him on his search and then tries to figure out what could have happened to Penelope. Pip needs Penelope found quickly since Pip, Prattles and Penelope are performing the Star-Spangled Banner at the Independence Day show. The next day Nate's neighbor and friend, Claude, asks him to find his drone parrot, Baxter. Nate realizes that Claude must have found Penelope and named it Baxter. After some searching the drone is found. The only problem is it no longer recognizes Pip's or Prattles' voices and only oinks.
This is a fun story that could take place in any small town. I love the idea of the boy detective and the book is easy to read for the emerging chapter readers. It is a fun little mystery with plenty of ah ha moments. Kids will enjoy the story and I love that it has the 4th of July theme. It is a book about growing independent children. The kids in the book have much independence and freedom to walk in the woods and go off on their own similar to my own childhood.
This is a fun story for emerging chapter readers that will have them solving the mystery along with Nate. It is a sweet story that I think they will enjoy. I hope you check it out! To go with this book, I suggest a parrot craft. I did a round-up earlier this year of parrot crafts.
