Graeme Rowland Base (born 6 April 1958) is a British-Australian author and artist of picture books. He is perhaps best known for his second book, '' Animalia'' published in 1986, and third book '' The Eleventh Hour'' which was released in 1989.

Background

He was born in

Amersham Amersham ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, in the Chiltern Hills, northwest of central London, from Aylesbury and from High Wycombe. Amersham is part of the London commuter belt. ...

, England, but moved to Australia with his family at the age of eight and has lived there ever since. He attended Box Hill High School and

Melbourne High School Melbourne High School is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Single-sex education, single-sex Selective school, academically selective secondary school, secondary day school for boys, located in the Melbourne suburb o ...

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.Biographical information on Graeme Base from Penguin (US) http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,0_1000002108,00.html His first book, ''My Grandma lived in Gooligulch'', was accepted by the first publisher he sent it to. Base resides in Melbourne with his wife Robyn and has three children.

Work

* Susan Burke's ''The Island Bike Business'' (Co-illustrator with Betty Greenhatch, 1982) * ''My Grandma Lived in Gooligulch'' (1983) * Jan Anderson's ''The Days of the Dinosaurs'' (Illustrator, 1985) * '' Animalia'' (1986) * Maureen Stewart's ''Creation Myths'' (Illustrator, 1987) * Lewis Carroll's ''Jabberwocky'' (Illustrator, 1987) * Maureen Stewart's ''Creation Stories'' (Illustrator, 1988) * '' The Eleventh Hour'' (1989) * '' The Sign of the Seahorse'' (1992) * ''The Discovery of Dragons'' (1996) * Lewis Carroll's ''Jabberwocky: A Book of Brillig Dioramas'' (Illustrator, 1996) * '' The Worst Band in the Universe'' (1999) * ''The Waterhole'' (2001) * '' Truck Dogs'' (2003) * ''Jungle Drums'' (2004) * '' Uno's Garden'' (2006) * ''The Discovery of Dragons: New Research Revealed ''(2007)'' '' * ''Enigma'' (2008) * Julie Watts' ''The Art of Graeme Base'' (Illustrator, 2008) * '' The Legend of the Golden Snail'' (2010) * ''The Jewel Fish of Karnak'' (2011) * ''Little Elephants'' (2012) * ''The Gallant Captain'' (Co-director, with Katrina Mathers, 2013) * ''My First Animalia'' (2013) * ''Breather'' (Graphic novel co-author, 2013) * ''The Last King of Angkor Wat'' (2014) * ''Eye to Eye'' (2015) * ''Little Bug Books'' (A series of six toddlers' books; 2014, 2016) * ''The Amazing Monster Detectoscope'' (2017) * ''Bumblebunnies'' (A series of four picture books; 2018–20) * ''Moonfish'' (2019) * ''The Tree'' (2020) ''The Eleventh Hour: A Curious Mystery'' was re-released five years later in 1993 with a new, special sealed section in the back called "The Inside Story". Labelled "TOP SECRET", it carries the paragraph: Within lies the solution to the Curious Mystery of The Eleventh Hour, as well as detailed explanations of all the clues and puzzles in the illustrations. Do not turn this page until you have tried your hardest to unravel the Mystery – ''for the getting of wisdom is no match for the thrill of the chase, and those who choose the longer road shall reap their reward!'' — Graeme Base Graeme's first (and to date only) novel, ''Truck Dogs (A Novel in Four Bites)'', has been released in paperback as well as a hardcover edition that includes sixteen colour plates of profiles of the characters (each half-dog, half-vehicle), depicting them as they would have appeared in the abandoned picture book, before Graeme decided to instead release the story as a novel for teenagers and younger readers. Colouring books based on ''Animalia'' and ''The Waterhole'' were published in 2002 and 2004 respectively. A series of jigsaw puzzles were created for selected illustrations from ''Animalia'' and a number of wall calendars based on Graeme's works were published throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. In 1987, fans saw Viking's publication of ''The Animalia Wall Frieze'', a giant frieze over 26 feet (or 8 metres) long, in four folded sections, in a special pack which included 'The ANIMALIA Riddle Sheet' (with provided answers) as an added bonus.

Adaptations of Base's works

* '' The Sign of the Seahorse'' was adapted as an opera with the

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an Australian orchestra based in Melbourne. The MSO is resident at Hamer Hall. The MSO has its own choir, the MSO Chorus, following integration with the Melbourne Chorale in 2008. The MSO relies on f ...

in 2001.Interview in

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territo ...

discussing book adaptations http://www.theage.com.au/news/books/double-base/2006/10/12/1160246261738.html * An exhibition was created based on ''The Water Hole'' and displayed at the

National Museum of Australia The National Museum of Australia, in the national capital Canberra, preserves and interprets Australia's social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation. It was formally established by the ''National Mu ...

. * ''My Grandma Lived in Gooligulch'' was adapted as a play by Gooligulch Productions. The play premiered at the Chookahs! Kids Festival (

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

) in 2006Premiere at The Arts Centre (Melbourne) as part of the Chookahs! Kids Festival and is touring country areas in Victoria, NSW and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

.Government grant for '' My Grandma Lived in Gooligulch'' to tour rural areas * '' Animalia'' has been made into a television series ('' Animalia''), and also is one of the most sold books around the world. Base was an executive producer for the series, and also composed the opening theme music with Yuri Worontschak. * Animalia was made into a
iPhone
an
iPad
app in 2010. Published on the iTunes app store b
AppBooks
and produced by The Base Factory. A
iPhone
app based on Jungle Drums was released by Inyerpocket in 2008. * Between Boxing Day 2012 and April 2013, Sand Sculpting Australia held their annual exhibition in Frankston, Victoria called "Under the Sea" and included a sculpture based on Graeme's book '' The Sign of the Seahorse''. Their 2013–14 exhibition, "Storyland", was themed on various children's book titles, television shows, and other media, and included a sculpture based on ''The Discovery of Dragons''.

Awards

*''Animalia'' – 1987

Children's Book Council of Australia The Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) is a not for profit organisation which aims to engage the community with literature for young Australians. The CBCA presents the annual Children's Book of the Year Awards to books of literary merit ...

(CBCA) Picture Book of the Year Honour book *''The Eleventh Hour'' – 1989 CBCA Picture Book of the Year Joint winner *1998

Dromkeen Medal The Dromkeen Medal is a literary prize awarded annually by the Courtney Oldmeadow Children's Literature Foundation for those who have advanced children's literature in Australia. The Medal was established by bookseller, Joyce Oldmeadow in 1982, ...

*''TruckDogs: A novel in four bites'' – 2004 CBCA Book of the Year: Younger Readers *''Uno's Garden'' – 2007 Green Book Award: Picture Book

References

External links

Graeme Base Official website

Author Profile at Penguin Australia
including list of Graeme Base's awards
Trailer for the upcoming Animalia animated television series

Video: Graeme Base discusses writing and illustrating children's books

Interview with Graeme Base
''A DISCUSSION WITH National Authors on Tour'' TV Series, Episode #28 (1992)
Graeme Base's YouTube Channel
including a demonstration of his Animalia iPad application and the Augmented Reality feature of The Legend of the Golden Snail
''The Gallant Captain'' film site

Graeme Base Sand Sculptures in Frankston
an article by Penguin Teachers' Academy
Sand Sculpting Australia's Leader Kids Day Out 2013 Facebook promo

Photograph of sand sculpture based upon ''The Discovery of Dragons''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Base, Graeme 1958 births Living people Australian illustrators Australian children's writers English emigrants to Australia English illustrators English children's writers Swinburne University of Technology alumni Writers who illustrated their own writing People from Amersham People educated at Melbourne High School Writers from Melbourne 20th-century Australian writers 21st-century Australian writers