7 Reasons Your Young Reader Will Love Big Nate

It’s a great time to be a big fan of Big Nate. The B&N Exclusive edition of the eighth book in the series, Big Nate Blasts Off, is in stores now, and the series’ newest comics compilation, Big Nate: Thunka, Thunka, Thunka, hits shelves on March 1. In it, Nate’s illustrious exploits are once again chronicled in his signature comic-strip style, offering plenty of laughs along the way, whether he’s enduring a cringe-worthy renaming of his baseball team, or watching his beloved dog Spitsy fall for a cat. Whether they prefer the books or the comics (or love both!), here are seven reasons your young reader will delight in Big Nate’s comedic genius.
He’s an ace at stress management. Feeling tense? Big Nate’s your man! In fact, his patented plastic-bottle-to-the-head method of stress relief is so effective (just ask his dad), Nate may be the world’s next spa guru or infomercial king. At the very least, the gentle sound of a bottle tappingagainst  the noggin makes for a soothing mantra: Thunka, thunka, thunka.
He turns challenges into opportunities. Take, for example, the case of the abysmally messy locker. Some might see this as a liability, but to a budding entrepreneur such as Nate, it’s a prime business opportunity! Instead of cleaning said locker (as if!), Nate unveils Lockerpalooza, a 3-D entertainment experience in which kids fork over two bucks to spend five minutes inside Nate’s locker o’ fun, emerging with goodies in hand. It’s a win-win solution—just don’t ask where the cotton candy has been!

He dispenses wisdom at crucial moments. Nate is more than a little shocked when his faithful pooch, Spitsy, falls in love with—and gets engaged to—Pickles the cat. Doesn’t Spitsy know that dogs aren’t supposed to even like cats, let alone marry them? Despite this scandalous turn of events, Nate remains level-headed enough to break it down, Yoda style, for a very smitten Spitsy, who was apparently unaware that Nate is a preeminent interspecies life coach.
He thinks of others. On a good day. When his dad makes him. During the holidays, Nate sets out to buy his sister a teenage romance book from her Christmas wish list (mainly because he doesn’t want to shell out for the other item she requested: underpants). Nate is so committed to this act of Yuletide love that he endures public ridicule and an unfortunate brush with gutter water in order to deliver the gift—his sister will never notice the tape, water stains, and missing pages. Four words: brother of the year!

He accepts the things he cannot change. Sort of. Nate is shocked to discover that Spitsy the dog is knitting a sweater for his soon-to-be kitty bride—an exact replica of Spitsy’s own doggie sweater, no less! Wouldn’t Spitsy rather engage in such venerable canine past times as playing fetch and chasing Frisbees? Realizing that no one can stop a knitting lovestruck dog, Nate does what any self-respecting killjoy would do: He puts on the cat sweater and goes back home.
He’s an enthusiastic student. When Nate is assigned to write a history report, he puts his heart and soul into it. What better historical personage to write about than Paul Revere?! So what if the report is less about the Revolutionary War and more about the lead singer of a 1960s rock band. Paul Revere and the Raiders attended the Boston Tea Party, right?
He has a way with words … on paper. Nate often freezes when surly Lucas throws shade his way, but verbal jousting doesn’t come naturally to everyone. While he may not always have a quick comeback at the ready, Nate sure knows how to put a pen to paper. When he learns that his school doesn’t have a fight song, Nate goes straight to work to write one, proving himself to be quite a wordsmith. Unfortunately, his rousing ditty is shoved to the side when Mrs. Shipulski composes her own fight song. However, the school motto he once wrote—“Sucking the life out of students for almost a century”—will live on forever.
Big Nate: Thunka, Thunka, Thunka and Big Nate Blasts Off are on shelves now.