Text Leveling System

Nate the Great and the Snowy Trail

RDQ:	417	Max Word/Sent	31	Total Words	1919		Diff Words	406
Lex	610	Ave Word/.Sent	8	Hi Freq occurs	1361	70.9%	Hi freq	203	50%
AR	2.5	Long Sentences	3.8	Low Freq occurs	33	1.7%	Low freq	16	3.9%

I, Nate the Great,
am a detective.
This morning I was a cold detective.
I was standing in the snow
with my dog, Sludge,
building a snow dog
and a snow detective.
They looked like Sludge and me.
They were cold and white and wet.
And so were we.
Rosamond came along.]] 
Rosamond is strange most of the time.
Today was one of those times.
She was pulling her four cats,
Super Hex, Big Hex, Little Hex,
and Plain Hex, on a sled.
She went up to the snow detective.
"I lost your birthday present,"
she said to him.
The snow detective did not answer.
I did.
"That detective is one hour old.
Why are you giving him
a birthday present?"
Rosamond looked at me.
"Oh, it's for you," she said.
"My birthday is July 12," I said.]]
"This is the middle of winter."
"I believe in giving early,"
Rosamond said.
She pointed to her sled.]]
"I was pulling your present
and my cats
on my sled,
but the present fell off
along the way."]]
"Do you know when and where
it happened?" I asked.
"Yes," Rosamond said.
"I was feeling drippy.
Snow from the trees
was falling on me.]]
Then all of a sudden
the sled felt lighter.
I turned around
and looked at it.
Your present was gone.
I walked around and around
in the snow,
but I couldn't find it.
It has a Happy Birthday card on it.
Will you look for your present?"
I, Nate the Great ,
knew that Rosamond's present
must be strange.
But I am a detective.
And the present was lost.
"I, Nate the Great,]]
will take your case,"
I said.
"Tell me what the present is,
so I will know
what to look for."]]
"Oh, I can't tell you that,"
Rosamond said.
"It would spoil the surprise.
But it could be
big or small
or medium size
or square or pointy
or flat or bulgy.
Or red or blue
or green or black
or plaid or polka--dotted or ... "
Suddenly I, Nate the Great,
knew something.
I did not want this case .
"How can I find something
if I do not know ]]
what I am looking for?" I asked.
"You're a great detective,
aren't you?" Rosamond said.
She walked away
and pulled her cats behind her.]]
Sludge and I went inside.
I left a note for my mother.
Dear Mother,
I am going out into the cold world to look for something strange. I will be back.
Love, Nate the Great.
I put on a dry pair of mittens.
Then Sludge and I
went out into the snow.]]
Rosamond had given me a clue,
but she did not know it.
She had told me
that the sled felt lighter
the moment the present was not on it.
I, Nate the Great, knew
that the present must be heavy.
But it had to fit on the sled
with the four cats.
So I knew it was not as big
as a dead tree
or a broken sofa
or an old door
or some other strange thing
that only Rosamond could think of.]]
I, Nate the Great,
was glad about that.
I looked down at the snow.
I saw Rosamond's footprints.
I saw sled marks.
Some came toward my house.
Some went away from my house.]]
Hmm. I, Nate the Great,
had an idea.
If I followed the prints
that led toward my house,
I could see the path
that Rosamond took to my house.]]
Perhaps the present
was lying in the snow
along the path.
Sludge and I
walked forward in the snow
while we watched Rosamond's
footprints
going backward in the snow.
It was a long, cold walk.
The snow crunched .
Icicles hung from the trees.
All at once,
under a tree,
Rosamond's footprints
went in a wide circle.
Around and around.]]
This must be
where she lost my present
and was looking for it!
Sludge sniffed the snow.]]
I looked in the snow
for a package
or the snow print
of a package.
But the snow
next to the sled marks
was unbroken.
I, Nate the Great, was puzzled.
How could something
drop off the sled
and not be in the snow
or leave a mark
in the snow?
There were no footprints either.
So I, Nate the Great, knew
that no one had come along ]]
and taken the birthday present.
But how did the present
get off the sled,
and where was it?
"This is a tough, ice --cold case,"
I said to Sludge.
Sludge shivered.]]
We trudged on.
We saw Annie and her dog, Fang.
Sludge shivered some more.
He was afraid of Fang.
I, Nate the Great,
was afraid of Fang.
Fang ran toward us.
Sludge leaped over
a big pile of snow.
I had never seen Sludge
leap that high.
"Fang is so friendly,"
Annie said.
She was making a snow dog.
It looked just like Fang.
It had icicles for teeth.]]
They were long and sharp and pointed.
Just like Fang's teeth.
But I liked them better.
They would melt.
I said, "I am looking
for a heavy birthday present
that could be
big or small ]]
or medium size
or square or pointy
or flat or bulgy.
Or red or blue
or green or black ]]
or plaid or polka dotted
or any number of things.
But there is one thing for sure.
It is strange.]]
"Rosamond was here," Annie said.
"But she left.
I have not seen anything strange
since then."
"What did she do and say?"
I asked.
"Well," Annie said, "I was inside
drinking hot chocolate.
Rosamond came in.
She told me she had
a birthday present for you.
She said it was outside
on her sled ]]
with her four cats.
She wouldn't tell me
what it was.
But she said it was
the most beautiful present ever."
"That is a good clue," I said.
"Rosamond thinks scorpions and spiders
and bats are beautiful.
So I, Nate the Great,
now know I am looking
for something ugly."
I thanked Annie for her help.]]
I called to Sludge.
He was hiding behind
a pile of snow.
We started out again.
"We are looking for something
strange, heavy, and ugly,"
I said.
I saw a snow castle up ahead.
Claude was sitting inside it.
Claude was always losing things.]]
"Look what I found," Claude said.
"A snow castle."
"Your luck is changing," I said.
"Perhaps you have found
a strange, heavy, and ugly
birthday present?"
"Who would want to find that?"
Claude asked.
It was a good question.]]
But I, Nate the Great,
did not want to answer it.
"I saw an ugly birthday card
at a store this morning,"
Claude said. "Rosamond was buying it."
"Aha!" I said.
"What else did Rosamond buy?"
"She bought six cartons
of milk," Claude said.
I, Nate the Great,
was sorry to hear that.
"Six cartons of milk?" I said.
I, Nate the Great, did not want
a birthday present
that was cold and white and wet.
I was already colder ]]
and whiter
and wetter
than I had ever been.
I said goodbye to Claude.
"Enjoy your castle," I said.
"Don't lose it."
"How can I lose a castle?"
Claude asked.
"Only you know how," I said.
Sludge and I went to Rosamond's house.]]
I said, "I do not know
where my birthday present is,
but I know what it is.
Please open your refrigerator."
Rosamond opened her refrigerator.
I saw tuna fish, cat food,
and a melting snow cat inside.
"Aha!" I said. "No milk!
You bought six cartons of milk
this morning, but now you have none.
You put them on your sled
to take to me.
And that was the birthday present
you lost on the way to my house."
Rosamond took out the snow cat
and licked it.]]
"Why would I buy you
a strange present
like six cartons of milk?"
she asked.]]
I, Nate the Great,
knew better
than to tell Rosamond why.
"The milk was for my cats,"
Rosamond said. "They drank it up."
I, Nate the Great,
was getting nowhere .
This case was more ice cold than ever.
I tried to think warm thoughts.
I thought about my warm house.
I thought about warm pancakes.
I said good--bye to Rosamond.
Sludge and I trudged home
through the snow.
Sludge was still shivering.
At home I ate some warm pancakes.]]
I gave Sludge a warm bone.
Sludge is a great detective.
But all he had done
was shiver and leap
in the snow.
Leap in the snow.
Leap. Hmm.
I, Nate the Great,
thought about that.]]
Did Sludge know something
I didn't know?
I thought about footprints
and sled marks
in the snow
and snow that had no marks in it,]]
and six cartons of milk
and other chilly things.
The milk
was for Rosamond's four cats.
But she bought six cartons.
Who or what needed
the two extra cartons of milk?
And what would Rosamond think
was the most beautiful
present ever?]]
Suddenly I, Nate the Great,
knew what my present was,
and where it was,
and how it got there.
I said to Sludge,
"I know what is heavy, strange, and ugly
and can get off a sled
without landing in the snow.
The case is solved,
and you were a big help.
But we must go out
into the cold world again."
Sludge and I went back
to the place
where Rosamond had lost the present.]]
This time I did not look down
at the snow.
I looked up
at the tree.
There was my birthday present
sitting high up in the tree!]]
It was heavy and strange
and ugly, all right.
It was the biggest cat
I had ever seen.
It was bigger than Super Hex.
It was almost as big as Sludge.
It was almost as big as me,
Nate the Great.
It was a monster.
It had a Happy Birthday card
hanging from a ribbon
around its neck.
Now I knew why Rosamond
had bought six cartons of milk
when she had only four cats.
This monster cat ]]
she was giving me was so big 
it needed two cartons of milk.
And I knew why
I had not seen the birthday present
or marks from the birthday present
in the snow
next to the sled.
The birthday present had not touched the snow.
It had leaped from the sled into the tree.
Now I knew everything
except what I was going to do  with my birthday present.]]
Sludge and I went back from the sled to Rosamond's house.
"The case is solved," I said.  
"I found my birthday present up a tree. " 
"Oh, good!" Rosamond said.]]
"His name is Super Duper Hex.
I got him from the same place
I got Super Hex, Big Hex,
Little Hex, and Plain Hex.
I wanted to keep him.
But he fights with my cats and wins.]]
He scratches, claws, and bites.
But nobody's perfect.
Happy birthday!"
Sometimes, being a great detective
is not great.
Sludge and I trudged home
through the snow.
We passed the tree
where my birthday present
was still sitting.
He liked it there.
Maybe he would sit there
forever.
Or maybe he would jump down
and follow us home.
Sludge and I kept walking.]]
I, Nate the Great,
knew two new things.
Never look up.
And never look back.
Sludge and I went home
and sat by the fire.
I was glad I had
only one birthday a year.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Little support

Dialog: Two speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Sentences: Simple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Features

First Person

Topic

Mystery

Cats

Problem Solving

Low Frequency Words

bulgy	detective	duper	icicles	lighter
medium	nowhere	plaid	polka	refrigerator
scorpions	sludge	trudged	tuna	unbroken
whiter