The Eleventh Hour by Graeme Base

Title: The Eleventh Hour

Author/Illustrator: Graeme Base

Medium: Mixed Media, watercolor, colored pencil

Genre: Fiction

Theme: It is a mystery book but during the reading, it was cheerful, fun, playful, but in the end, the sudden shock occurred so in the end, is there a solution?

Summary: Horace, the elephant wanted to celebrate his eleventh birthday so he invited all of his animal friends such as zebra, cat, mouse, giraffe, pig, rhino, and crocodile to come to his house. Horace was known as greatest cook in the world and he cooked a feast for everyone. It had to wait until they finish playing games and after they are finished playing, all of the food Horace cooked was gone! Who did it?

Literary Elements:

Setting: The book setting is mostly at Horace, the elephant’s house. There are many different rooms inside and outside the house. All of the animals would play different games in different rooms such as entrance hallway, dining room, kitchen, front yard, back yard, and room with pool table. The house looks like renaissance, old-fashioned house. It was a backdrop because the setting doesn’t have big impact on the mystery.

Characterization: Horace, the Elephant was the main character because it was his birthday. He was really creative and greatest cook. He invited all of his friends; the party guests were The Pig, The Rhino, The Swan, Bengal Tiger, The Mouse, The Cat, Sam the Crocodile, and the twin Giraffes.

Plot: The plot was flat. However, it has use of suspense intentionally because it was a mystery book. Every page shows the animals playing games having fun. The climax was short in the end once the Horace gives his reaction to the climax.

Style: The style of writing is unique because it has codes, riddles, and rhymes in the writing. The rhymes give the readers clues to the answer to the mystery. The illustration was busy with drawing of animals, patterns, colorful, and 3-D pictures. It also has wavy lines that show how it was drawn. The mood was light, mystery, and adventure.

Evaluation: This book is for the readers of all ages. Anyone can read this and enjoy it. Because it is a mystery book, it will take time for the readers to figure out who did it. To me, it was hard to figure it out and it is really a clever book. I really like how it was written and drawn so it seems so simple, but yet complicated. I enjoy the book overall. It is one of popular mystery books.