Random House is launching an e-book program timed to the 40th anniversary of the launch of Marjorie Weinman Sharmat’s Nate the Great mystery series. Five books, including the first in the series, will be released on January 30; by the end of 2013, all 26 titles – most of which were illustrated by Marc Simont – will be available in e-format. And in May 2014, Random House will publish in hardcover the first new title in the series since 2009: Nate the Great, Where Are You?, co-authored with Mitchell Sharmat and illustrated by Jody Wheeler.

Sharmat has written more than 130 books for children and young adults, which have been translated into 24 languages. Since his first appearance in Nate the Great in 1972, the character has appeared in musical theater, in the New York Times crossword puzzle, and on more than 28 million boxes of Cheerios.