When I was growing up, my favorite children's story was a book called the 11th Hour, by Graeme Base. This was a not-so well known, but kid friendly book. The plot is about a group of animals who come together for a party and a magnificent feast, which is stolen before anyone gets a bite.
Among the unique aspects of this book, I particularly liked it for its incredibly detailed pictures, with each page covered entirely by intricate drawings of animals in costumes playing games. A food lover as a kid, I loved to just stare at the delicious looking banquet that Base drew and imagine eating it.
The mystery of "who ate the feast" also intrigued me, as I have a love for mysteries. Base drew every picture with clues as to the culprit hidden in the most innocent of places, or page borders. In addition, each game that the animals played (before the theft of the feast) had a funny twist to it, such as a musical chairs game played by breaking the chairs.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the large cast of characters. Base made each character separate and memorable, by giving them individually their animal traits while endowing them with traits fitting of their costumes. The plot does not focus entirely on the mystery, but rather takes a slightly episodic approach of walking the animals through their day, a form difficult to pull off but that Graeme Base does well.
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