The Eleventh Hour

Written and illustrated by Graeme Base

Puffin Books, 1997

Genre: Children's picture book; toy book; mystery

Reading Level: Ages 4-8

37 pages

The Eleventh Hour is a children's picture book about an elephant named Horace who is about to turn eleven years old and he wants to have a party with his friends. He sends out the invitations and spends a long time cooking up a big feast. The party guests show up in different costumes; the pig as an admiral, the zebra as a punk, the rhino as an astronaut, and several other animals in fun silly costumes. The guests get very excited by the feast and really want it, but Horace tells them they can't have it until the eleventh hour. So the party really begins with many different games. First there's a sack race, then musical chairs, then a card game, then "snakes and ladders" board game, and several other games. The final game was a tug of war, and as it ends Horace announces that he is now eleven and they can eat, they all run in to eat and the food is missing from the table. The party guests accuse a thief, though all party guests claim it wasn't them and name their different reasonings and alibis. Horace in an attempt to calm his friends down, he goes and makes sandwiches and they sit and eat, and Horace surprises them by bringing out the big birthday cake that he had put back in the kitchen and luckily saved it from the food thief. Everyone celebrated and finished the cake. The story ends, "They never found out who it was that stole the feast - can you?" The object is to the find the clues the author has hidden and determine who ate the feast. In the back of the book, once the reader has given up or made a guess, they can open the seal and read what the clues are and the answer. The answer ends up being the mouse and all his 111 mouse friends that you can find throughout the book.

I would recommend this book to any child who enjoys puzzle books and in depth pictures.

I can't think of any conflicts that would come of this book.

I really loved this book, the story was well written and the game of it is extremely enticing and fun to do. The illustrations are extremely well detailed and while seemingly overcrowded, really make the story and the game fun. I can't wait to read another book by Graeme Base!

My rating: 5 out of 5