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BASE, GRAEME: : The Eleventh Hour - A Curious Mystery

LONDON.MACMILLAN CHILDRENS'S BOOKS,1989.

ISBN 0333518675.

UK,slim Qrto HB+dw/dj,illustrated,1st edn. [Originally and first published in Australia, Penguin Book Australia Ltd.,1988.This listing the 1st (UK) edition,with the extra included special 'The Inside Story' labelled TOP SECRET' 8pp section still sealed and unopened.] FINE/FINE.Handwritten gift presentation inscrptn and contempraneous year date hidden behind the front inner flap of dw/dj,but no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,glossy,colour pictorial artwork illustration by Graeme Base,illustrated front of dw/dj,with yellow-outlined black-lettered title and author's black-lettered name within a  black double-lined yellow horizontal panel; spine/backstrip with capitalised,white-lettered title,author's other white-lettered name and publisher's capitalised,white-lettered initial M to foot of same,dark brown with printed marbled effect faux blind spine. Negligible shelf-wear,minimal creasing to top edges edges and corners – no nicks,tears or splits present.Top+fore-edges bright crisp,clean without blemish/foxing/spotting; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound – no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corner tips – appears unread,apart from my own collation. Publisher's bright,crisp,clean/unblemished, sharp-cornered,glossy,glazed boards with repeated dw/dj design/illustration,and immaculate plain brown endpapers.UK,slim Qrto HB +dw/dj,illustrated,1st edn,32pp [unpaginated and excludes endpapers and the SEALED,special 'The Inside Story' labelled TOP SECRET' 8pp section, as the last pages] includes colour illustrated title page with unused Birthday Party Invitation,9 double-page and 12 single page full-colour illustrations with rhyming text, and cipher code and its instructions to verso of last illustration; and laid in loose,publisher's related advertising leaflet with an 11 questions quiz about the story to its verso - these leaflets are usually missing because of its nature, i.e. as an ephemeral,paper item.  Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional and particularly internally,is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation,for a book of its 30+ year-old age and nature, i.e. a children's book.It is only the minimal faults described that prevents a slightly higher grading overall.Despite them,it eally is still an exceptional,exemplary example for its cleanliness,brightness and lack of detracting faults.  When Horace the elephant turns eleven, he celebrates in style by inviting his exotic friends to a splendid costume party.But a mystery is afoot, for in the midst of the games, music, and revelry, someone has eaten the birthday feast! Rhyming text and detailed illustrations provide clues to help readers find out who committed the crime.'The Eleventh Hour' is like running a marathon: finish exhausted but satisfied.Graeme Base,creator of the popular 'Animalia',has crafted another intricately wrought, gorgeously illustrated picture book, this time a mystery in verse. When Horace the Elephant decides to throw himself a party for his 11th birthday,he never suspects a crime will be committed by lunchtime. Who has stolen the birthday feast? As with any good mystery, everyone is guilty until proven innocent.The proof lies in the myriad clues embedded in each glorious illustration.Young sleuths will delight in decoding the complex messages that pop up in unexpected places.        Graeme Base used the buildings he saw during his travels through Africa, Asia, and Europe to design and decorate Horace's fantastic house. Astute readers may recognize Roman cathedrals, Scottish palaces, and stone carvings from India. Best of all, secreted in these walls are cryptic messages in Egyptian hieroglyphics, anagrams, and even Morse code to challenge the perceptive and deductive abilities of any reader "of tender years or long in tooth." Written in rhyme,the book includes large and lavish full-page illustrations of Horace's opulent house and the events of the party, packed with hidden details. The author invites the reader to deduce the identity of the thief by examining the illustrations and making deductions and observations.Also among the details in the illustrations are hidden messages, ciphers, and codes for amateur cryptographers (for example, one page's border consists of Morse code, while another page set in the ballroom, contains musical clues as to which guest is guilty). The biggest and most noticeable clue lies in a paragraph of ciphertext at the end of the book, which is to be decrypted, once the reader has discovered the identity of the thief, by means of a 'Caesar cipher' mapping A to the first letter of the guilty animal's name. The solution to the cipher confirms the answer to the puzzle and offers an additional challenge to the reader.                                         The final portion of the book contains the answers to almost all of the clues in the book (including the cipher), and how to solve them. But these last pages are sealed together (as in this book - unopened), as the reader is encouraged to try to solve the puzzles themselves first. In Australia,when published, this sealed section was absent from earlier printings of the book - but was available by mail.When reissued in 1993,the sealed section was included in the printing.'The Eleventh Hour' is a brilliant, rigorous, creative romp that no child (or adult) should miss.                    Graeme Rowland Base (born 6th April,1958) Amersham,Buckinghamshire (UK), moved to Australia aged 8,and has lived there since,is a British-Australian author and artist of picture books.He is perhaps best known for his second book,'Animalia' published in 1986, and this,his third book 'The Eleventh Hour' which was released in 1989 (UK) and a year earlier in Australia,1988.The book was a joint-winner of the "Picture Book of the Year" award from The Children's Book Council of Australia [CBCA.]      He'd attended schools in Melbourne and then studied a Diploma of Art (Graphic Design) for three years at Swinburne University of Technology at Prahran.He worked in advertising for two years and then began illustrating children's books,gradually moving to authoring them as well.His first authoured book,'My Grandma lived in Gooligulch' (1983),was accepted by the first publisher he sent it to.His very first book,as a co-illustrator with Betty Greenhatch,was for Susan Burke's 'The Island Bike Business' was published a year earlier,in 1982.                                            Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas customers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!          N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE.    ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **

UK,slim Qrto HB+dw/dj, illustrated,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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