Download - The Eleventh Hour- A Curious Mystery
From Graeme Base, the creator of
Abrams' fabulous best seller Animalia,
comes this remarkable new picture
book whodunnit.
When Horace the elephant turns eleven, he
celebrates in style by inviting his friends to
a splendid party. Fine music, games, and
the promise of a magnificent feast prepared
by Horace himself (everyone knows
elephants are the world's best cooks!) make
this costume gala a most special event. But
little does Horace know that when the
partygoers gather for the banquet, a curious
mystery will be revealed. None of the eleven
animals is above suspicion when the clock
strikes The Eleventh Hour!
Readers of all ages will quickly succumb to
the magical spell of The Eleventh Hour.
Graeme Base has filled the pages of this
wondrous book with rhyming text and
gloriously detailed illustrations, each one
containing cryptic visual clues and hidden
messages that will keep sleuths searching
happily for hours for the answer to the
mystery.
32 pages illustrated in full color
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A book is read, a story ends, a telling tale is told.
But who can say what mysteries a single page may hold?
A maze of hidden codes and clues, a clock at every turn,
And only time will tell what other secrets you may learn .
For RobynAnd for my parents
Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, New York
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With that he set to work and wrote the name of every Guest,
And then eleven sorts of food that Elephants like best.
He wrote the Invitations next (and sent them off that day),
And finally eleven Games for everyone to play.
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'Twas early in the morning when the Party Guests arrived
And all were wearing Costumes most intriguingly contrived.
The Pig came as an Admiral, the Zebra as a Punk.
The Rhino was an Astronaut, his spacesuit made of junk.
The Swan arrived as Princess Pure, a most enchanting sight,
Bejewelled with rows of precious stones and dressed in purest white.
And with her came an Indian, with arrows, spear and bow -
A handsome Bengal Tiger, whom no one seemed to know.
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They raced across the Croquet Lawn, then up towards the house,
But as they reached the half-way point the Pig tripped on the Mouse.
He landed with a heavy thud, and several others fell,
But Kilroy kept his balance, and went on to win, as well!
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The Ballroom was the venue for the second party game,
But though the rules were simple no one seemed to know the aim.
They charged around a ring of chairs beneath the chandeliers,
While Sam played Mozart's 'Magic Flute' and 'British Grenadiers'.
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And one by one the chairs became just piles of splintered wood,
(The Guests were all agreed that this new game was jolly good!)
Then as the final chair collapsed they stopped and checked the score;
And since no one had won at all, they settled on a draw.
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The Pig procured a pack of cards and soon a game began.
But unbeknown to all the rest the Admiral had a plan,
For Oliver won every trick; his conquest was complete.
A string of luck? Or could it be the porker was a cheat?
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With Piggy in the Middle (you would think he'd had enough!).
He blundered blindfold round the room and groped and grabbed and gripped,
While all the others squealed with joy, and dodged and ducked and dipped.
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And far above, upon a hill beyond the Tennis Court,
The Rhino and the Zebra sat in silence, deep in thought.
They studied every Rook and Pawn, each King and Queen and Knight,
Then both agreed it looked too hard, and quit without a fight.
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The final game was Tug o' War - two teams of equal weight -
But every mind was on the. feast, the time was getting late!
The Rhino slipped, the game was lost, they cared not in the least!
For finally the Hour had come - 'twas time to eat the Feast!
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The cakes had turned to scattered crumbs, no cream was to be seen,
And nothing now remained where once the Chocolate Mousse had been.
The Centrepiece had toppled, not a strawberry was left.
'But who', they cried, 'could possibly have managed such a theft?'
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He rushed into the Kitchen and was gone for quite a while,
Then re-emerged with sandwiches, a flourish and a smile.
'This lot is not as fancy as the Birthday Feast', he said,
'But eleven times as healthy, 'coz it's made with whole wheat bread!'
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Then, as they sat and ate their lunch, there came one last surprise,
When Horace asked for everyone to kindly close their eyes.
And there it was - the Birthday Cake! The Guests all clapped and cheered.
He'd kept it in the Kitchen, and it hadn't disappeared!
And so they picnicked on the lawn until the evening fell,
And everyone left satisfied - the day had finished well.
But in the end, although the thief was someone they all knew,
They never found out who it was that stole the feast - can you? ^r
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Notes for Detectives
With a little close observation and some simple deduction it is quite easy to
discover which of the eleven animals stole the feast. Look carefully at the
pictures, and when you think you know who it was, use the first letter of that
animal's name to decode the panel below.
Here's what to do. If you think the thief was, say, Maxwell, then call 'M' the
letter A, and go on through the alphabet so 'N' equals B, 'O' equals C and so
on. In this way you can decode the hidden message below, which will tell you
who stole the feast and, more importantly, how it was done.
-^XQBKDEVKDSYXC ! SD GKC SXNOON USVBY1
DRO WYECO GKY CDYVO DRO POKCD. LED RO
RKN ROVZ ! YXO REXNBON KXN 0V0F0X YP
USVHflE PE1 £1 BOVKDSFP N DRDWCOWOC
SX DRO RYECO KXN KBYEXN DRO QKBNOX KXN,
KD 0V0F0X WSXEDOC DY 0V0 OX DROI KWCMKWZOBON SXDY DRO WW? WN GSDR USVBYI
m KDO EZ KW YP RYBKMO'C DKEDSPEV WN.KXNXYG,TECDDYCRYG RYG MVOFOB IYE KBO,
MKX IYE PSXN YXO REXNBON KXN 0V0F0X WSMO
RSNNOX SX DRO ZSMDEBOC ? RKZZI REXDSXQ
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Copyright © Doublebase Pty Ltd, 1988
Published in 1989 by Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated, New York
A Times Mirror CompanyFirst published in Australia by Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 1988
All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this book may be
reproduced without the written permission of the publisher
Printed in the United States of America
HOLY TRINITY SCHOOL
Colorado Springs, Colo.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Base, Graeme.The eleventh hour: a curious mystery/Graeme Base,
p. cm.Summary: An elephant's eleventh birthday party is marked by
eleven games preceding the banquet to be eaten at the eleventh
hour, but when the time to eat arrives, the birthday feast has
disappeared. The reader is invited to guess the thief.
ISBN 0-8109-0851-4
I. Title.
[DNLM: 1. Elephants - Fiction. 2. Animals - Fiction.
3. Birthdays - Fiction. 4 Parties - Fiction. 5. Mystery and
detective stories. 6. Literary recreations. 7. Stories in rhyme]PZ8.3.B2894E1 1989
[Fie] - dc 19 89-167
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BORROWERS NAME
23Ql^&£^3
Base, Graeme
The eleventh hour
HOLY TRINITY SCHOOLCoLrado Springs, Cota£
rec'd 1/92
Born in England in 1958, Graeme Base
has lived in Australia since 1966. Hepublished his first book in 1983, and
encountered international fame in 1987 with
his amazing alliterative alphabet bookAnimalia. He followed that success with a
specially illustrated version of Lewis
Carroll's beloved poem "Jabberwocky" from
Through the Looking Glass.
During 1987, Graeme and his wife, Robyn,
traveled extensively in Asia, Africa, andEurope, g?«.hering the ideas and images that
crowd the pages of The Eleventh Hour.
Some Other Abrams Books
Animalia
By Graeme Base
32 pages of illustrations in full color
Jabberwocky
trom Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass
By Graeme Base
32 pages of illustrations in full color
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
Illustrated by Margaret Early
29 pages of full-color illustrations with gold
Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
100 Fifth AvenueNew York, N.Y. 1001
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Printed in the l ni ites i
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