the eleventh hour: a curious mystery (1988) is an illustrated children's book by graeme base. in it, horace the elephant holds a party for his eleventh birthday, to which he invites his ten best friends (various animals) to play eleven games and share in a feast that he has prepared. however, at the time they are to eat—11:00—they are startled to find that someone has already eaten all the food. they accuse each other until, finally, they're left puzzled as to who could have eaten it all. it is left up to the reader to solve the mystery, through careful analysis of the pictures on each page and the words in the story.