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

!

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

"' !4 20II4_3l

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

1

Printed in the l ni ites i

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