Title: The Eleventh Hour
Author: Graeme Base
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Date: 1993
Number of pages: 32
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Genre: Mystery
Horace the elephant is hosting a birthday party for his eleventh birthday party. He wants to invite eleven of his friends, play eleven games, and even eat a feast at 11. When his friends arrive to the palace, they salivate over the delicious food Horace has prepared - but Horace had other plans for his guests. They play tennis, and pool, hide and go seek, and gunny-sac races. Everything is perfect for Horace's celebration, until they discover at the time of the feast, that the meal is missing. All the different animals that were invited to the party began to point fingers at one another, and plead their cases as to why it was not them who ate the food. They are left puzzled to figure out the mystery through many different steps. The book is written with a series of deductions and clues to find out where the food disappeared too. Along the border of each page there are clues to unravel the mystery.
The clues lead you on a mysterious journey to figure out the thief. If you decode the message you would find that Kilroy and 111 of his mice friends ate the feast. Using the deductions, the clock, and the decoder in the back you can easily pin-point the perpetrator(s). The book is so centered around the number 11, that an interesting footnote would be, K is the eleventh letter in the alphabet. Kilroy says in the book that he was incapable of eating the feast all by himself, to which he was telling the truth. The outcome is surprising
The clues lead you on a mysterious journey to figure out the thief. If you decode the message you would find that Kilroy and 111 of his mice friends ate the feast. Using the deductions, the clock, and the decoder in the back you can easily pin-point the perpetrator(s). The book is so centered around the number 11, that an interesting footnote would be, K is the eleventh letter in the alphabet. Kilroy says in the book that he was incapable of eating the feast all by himself, to which he was telling the truth. The outcome is surprising
Clues such as a guided puzzle, and watching the clock throughout the book, will aide the reader to find out what happened.
My Reaction: I thought this children's book was an excellent picture-book. The way the author used mystery to keep the reader interested was thrilling. At age 21 I still really loved the book and the audience is directed towards that of a younger age. The book has great illustrations that keep you always looking around. It's not a quick read - which could be taken as enjoyable to many children or a young age.
My Reaction: I thought this children's book was an excellent picture-book. The way the author used mystery to keep the reader interested was thrilling. At age 21 I still really loved the book and the audience is directed towards that of a younger age. The book has great illustrations that keep you always looking around. It's not a quick read - which could be taken as enjoyable to many children or a young age.
Problems: The book is illustrations are somewhat busy and distracting that a listener might get wrapped up in the images, and miss the point of the story.
Recommendation: I would recommend this book to many elementary children. It would be a perfect book for story-time inside a classroom setting. It could also be used as a wonderful teaching tool for writing, reading and observation. The connection between the plot line, and the illustrations helps the readers gain a greater appreciation for the art in which it is written.
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