Don your favorite costume and join Horace the elephant in celebration of his eleventh birthday. Bring your magnifying glass and your suspicion too, for a mystery awaits in The Eleventh Hour.

Graeme Base's curious tale of a birthday party gone awry is a visual treat. Eleven animals arrive for Horace's party, all bedecked in costume:

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.

Horace has a sweet pad, no doubt about it. The colorful, crowded illustrations depicting the various rooms of his house pay tribute to architecture found in Rome, Egypt, Asia, Africa and more.

A glorious array of delectable treats await in the medieval banquet hall:

For there upon the table was The feast That Horace Made,
A wondrous spread of cakes and buns and jugs of lemonade.
And in its midst a Centerpiece of Grand Design was placed,
That left no doubt young Horace had superb artistic taste.

Before the eleventh hour strikes, a hideous crime occurs. It's up to the reader to puzzle out the clues and solve the mystery.

Secret clues, along with a hidden message, can be found on every page -- some are obvious, while others require keen eyes and intellect. For those who wish to solve the mystery themselves, much detective work awaits. And for readers who can't handle not knowing whodunit, a useful answer key can be found in the back of the book with these words from the author:

The getting of wisdom is no match for the thrill of the chase, and those who choose the longer road shall reap their reward!

I didn't like this book. I had such high hopes for it, but it failed miserably. I had to read this for my children's lit class in college and I hated it.

Basically, this is a picture book in which some animals get together for a party, but one of the guests eats their food and it's up to readers to figure out which guest did it by looking for clues in all of the pictures.

Most of the clues ended up being completely irrelevant red herrings, and lots of the deciphered clues were just the same phrase repeated again and again, which was annoying and pointless. Also, you can totally disregard the clues on all of the pages except for about two specific pages. The other pages don't add up to anything meaningful. I was disappointed to have spent so much time deciphering clues when most of it was a waste of time.

I guess it can be fun if you really don't mind most of the clues being irrelevant, but it wasn't for me.

This is one amazing book! The mystery is simple enough to point out to a 4 year old (observation and deduction, no code cracking skills needed). Yet there's so much knowledge, research and art that the author put into this book. For a brainiac it will be hours or even days of entertainment. I feel quite nerdy to find myself immensely and thoroughly enjoy this book!

This book is so classic, I am afraid that whatever review that I am going to give here is not going to do it any justice nor add any value to the already exceptional feedbacks given by the author’s fans since the 1980s.

Little-AJ loves this book at first sight and was instantly captivated by the stunning illustrations, despite the extreme complexity of each picture. Little-AJ adores animals, and is obsessed with identifying different animals on picture books each day. This book is unique, because there can be as many as 11 of them in one page. This, on its own, is a little puzzle for a 19 month-old.

Hidden within the marvelous pictures are series of clues and puzzles and riddles and codes pending to be discovered/ resolved/ decoded/ deciphered. It’s easy for one to be swayed by the magnificence of the drawings, and failed completely to notice those secret messages concealed underneath the paintings of the glorious St Peter of Rome, a swanky palace room in salzburg or a mysterious old Egyptian temple.

Some serious sleuthing skills and spectacular observation abilities are required to truly play this game of “whodunnits”. Hints could be hidden in some music notes, Morse code, mirror image, Latin, or a play with the alphabet order. It’s unbelievably complicated yet enjoyable at the same time, and I can’t be sure whether it was little-AJ or the mummy who enjoys this book more.

Full review here: https://storypleasemummy.wordpress.co...

The eleventh hour is a story about an elephant who hosts a party for his own birthday. He creates many lavish dishes for his friends. Before the elephant and his friends eat the feast they play many birthday games. After the games, the elephant and his guests find that someone has eaten all of the birthday meal. Beautiful illustrations to enjoy as you read the story and the art also reveals who ate the birthday dinner.

This is a very whimsical children's book. The illustrations are spectacular and there's so much detail it takes a couple of times to read to really see everything. The stories cute and children under 9 I think will enjoy it very much.

Even though I love the art the illustrations are overwhelming especially when you realize that only searching through the art is how you find who had devoured the meal.

I never did find out who done it I had bought this as a gift for a nephew. I would probably search through it again if I had had the time. It definitely would be good to help kids as a visual exercise.

Book: The Eleventh Hour
Author: Graeme Base
Genre: Picture books, Children’s Books
Recommend: Yes
Amount of Pages 32
My feelings:


From the very first page, this book had us on the edge of our seats. The whole family was captivated by the mysterious tale that unfolded before our eyes. At first, I thought it was just a simple story, but as we delved deeper into its pages, we discovered that there was an actual mystery to solve. The solution lay locked at the end of the book and we eagerly awaited the moment when we could finally open it and reveal the culprit. We took our time with this one, carefully examining each page for hidden clues. Even the kids have become engrossed in the case, determined to crack it before anyone else. And who can blame them? The illustrations are stunning, with intricate details and clever hints woven into every border. The artwork is like a lavish Baroque painting, rich and opulent in detail. It depicts eleven animals gathered at a grand birthday party, where the host has prepared an extravagant feast that can only be eaten at a specific time. However, before dinner can even arrive, disaster strikes - someone sneaks in and devours all the food! Who could it have been? We've been racking our brains trying to figure it out, but so far, the answer remains elusive. As we turn each page and examine every detail of the stunning illustrations, we are transported into a world of mystery and wonder. This book is truly a masterpiece, filled with unexpected twists and turns that keep us guessing all the way to the end. Highly recommend.

For a curious youngster, this would be a perfect choice. Cool animals. Bright colors. Mystery! Parents certainly should be ready to help out a child with all the clues, some of which are quite obvious and visual, others are complex and coded.

There is a value in reading a less simplistic book, filled with rhymes and clues and creativity to a child. You can introduce complicated concepts, nuance, and develop a better relationship. Children learn to love learning, and how to study. High upside, low downside. It just requires a little time and effort on the part of adults.

Most notably, the author's pictures are stellar. I feel as positively disposed towards Base's artwork as I do with James C. Christensen. His illustrations are brightly colored, and complex. You can find symbols, and introduce children to many cultures, types of architecture, and games all through this simple picture book.

I'm amazed at how much can be packed into a short book, and would recommend this to be read to kids from comprehension on for just the story, 3-4 for the mystery with help, and 5-6 for trying the mystery solo. One ding, the extra sneaky elements that have been worked in in droves on each page, I find those hard to find - even with the top secret end of book help. It's the epitome of a Where's Waldo stumper!

Such a cool book! Fun to try to figure all of the pictures out

Beautiful book but I wasn’t smart enough to figure out the mystery!

"The Eleventh Hour" is an interactive (poetic) picture book for children 5-8 years old (primary) although, it is certain to be enjoyed by a wide range of readers. Horace the elephant has decided to throw himself a costume-themed birthday party and to invite 10 of his animal friends. He is shown in the hours before the party preparing a vast feast for his guests. When the time comes to eat, it is discovered that someone has secretly devoured the food, but who did it? The colorful, larger than life illustrations offer a plethora of clues and riddles for the reader to decode in order to solve the mystery. In addition to the written text the book includes many types of hidden messages in the shape of Morse code, musical notes and in the artwork itself. Overall the book provides a unique interactive experience that is sure to hold the attention of anyone who likes a good mystery. I think that this makes a perfect read-at-home book for school children, as it will ignite the young imagination! “The Eleventh Hour” has always been one of my favorite books and I could never bring myself to open the sealed solution at the end!

Australian picture-book author/artist Graeme Base delivers a masterpiece with The Eleventh Hour, one sure to provide curious young children with hours of entertainment! The rhyming text tells the tale of Horace the elephant, who invites ten guests to celebrate his eleventh birthday with him. Everything from the feast to the games is meticulously planned, but when it comes time to eat, the animal companions are shocked to discover that someone has stolen the sumptuous banquet prepared for them. Who could it be...?

Originally published in 1988, The Eleventh Hour is a picture-book mystery extraordinaire, one that contains more puzzles and codes than the average reader will know what to do with. This book really is extraordinarily detailed, both in terms of the gorgeous color artwork itself, and in terms of all of the clues, red herrings and codes - musical, visual, textual - worked into each page. I was able to solve the mystery of who stole the feast, both by consulting the 'hide-and-seek' page - I reasoned that it was one of the few pictures that depicted both indoor and outdoor scenes at the same time, and contained (almost!) all the characters - and by thinking about the various denials offered by the animal guests, when the theft was discovered. Once I made my deduction, I used the guilty party's name to decode the secret message on the final page, and discovered I was correct. All that said, I used only a TINY fraction of the clues available to the reader, as I discovered when I read through the (hitherto sealed) section at the rear, which outlines all the codes and hints worked into each page. Needless to say, I also missed all of Kilroy's mouse relatives, whose presence is well hidden! This truly is a book that rewards reading and rereading, and even once the main mystery is solved, there are so many more details to be pondered, codes to be broken, and minor mysteries to be solved, that the reader will enjoy revisiting its pages. Because of the detail, I would recommend this one to a slightly older-than-usual picture-book audience, especially one that enjoys puzzles!

I never as a child could figure it out. I finally gave up and read the spoilers in the back. Lol. The pictures are absorbing.