This is a tricky one, I had it as a kid. It was a cross-section of a hotel, across each double page. Each page was like 30 seconds after the one before. The detail was brilliant, I would spend hours picking a storyline in the pictures and following it through to it’s conclusion. I recall a flood, a rat infestation, an underground car park, a lady having a bath, loads and loads of things happened in that book. It was a hardback, with maybe 20 or so pages. It was quite large, maybe A4 or slightly bigger as I recall. Sorry I do not know more details about the book, I was young (somewhere around 10 year old, making it 1987) and my parents don”t even remember it. Hope you can help, my kids want to see this book too 🙂
Stump the Bookseller
New format, same book stumper solving.
Perhaps Daniele Bour’s The House from Morning to Night? (Not a hotel, granted, but a large, hotel-like home.) It was originally published in France, as a large format, hardcover book. Looks as though the first English-language edition came out in 1985, also in hardcover although slightly smaller than the French version.
Sounds like a scene from the Eloise books by Kay Thompson. It’s most likely from the original, with Eloise flooding the entire hotel in one of her madcap antics; there is a series of notes for Eloise Takes A Bath, which also involves flooding, and a Venice-themed wedding. Either sounds likely, hope it helps.
This is Full Moon Soup (or the fall of the Hotel Splendide) by Alastair Graham. Be careful: I recently ordered one online for a friend, and found out that is was republished in 2007 with text and large ‘goo’ graphics that obscure parts of the amazing illustrations. If you prefer the unaltered and wordless earlier edition, make sure you find one with an earlier publishing date of around 1991. You might also look for the sequel, Full Moon Afloat, that continues the story on board a cruise ship.
I have found a Yahoo! Answers Question asking for the same book it looks like –
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090807110251AAYTucI
Yes, I loved this book when I was a kid (also mid to late 1980s) and would really like to find a copy of it too. It’s just as you described: a time-lapse series of a five-star hotel descending into chaos. In addition to the flood in one part of the hotel, there was also a fire started which wiped out another section of the hotel.
Ooh lots of comments, thanks!
Unfortunately I don’t think its any of these suggestions, I had seen the Full Moon Soup books while researching. I guess the Yahoo Answers comments are a bit off then, not the book I am after.
I’ve looked up the other 2 suggestions and its not them either… 🙁
This book was quite large, with very small and detailed illustrations. I think Harrison above is describing the same book. Strange how a book so popular can vanish from existence! I’m sure we’ll find it in the end 🙂
You’d piqued my curiosity, having written so fondly of this mysterious book, so I started hunting. The Apartment Book, illustrated by Leo Hartas (and also published as This Old House), appears to have first come out in 1995. I realize that once again I’m suggesting a book that is not about a 5-star hotel but instead takes place in a fancy townhouse, so between that and the late publication date it’s a long shot, but darnit-everything else fits: the bathing lady, the rats, the underground cars, the fire that Harrison mentioned are all there, and it’s huge: 14 X 10.5.
Eleni, what a good find! This is not the book I’m looking for, but it’s so painfully close. I think I may even buy this one for the kids regardless!
Like you say, its not a hotel, but it’s funny how some of the same things happen in the story.
Comparing this book to the mysterious book we can’t find, I’d say the hotel book has more details, more rooms and everything is displayed more densely. Perhaps the hotel has up to 10 floors, with many sections across the page. The hotel was stretched over both pages too as I recall.
I’ll go and buy this one while still looking for the other 🙂 Thanks Eleni!
I commented on this a while ago and decided to check back to see whether the mystery had been solved. I then started to look up some of these suggestions. I started with Full Moon Soup. It’s similar but not as elaborate. I started to wonder if it was another book by the same author when I noticed a link under “Related Books”. I found the book that I was fascinated with from my childhood.
The Great Green Mouse Disaster
by Martin Waddell
http://books.google.ca/books?id=7B8ONAAACAAJ&output=html_text&source=gbs_similarbooks_r&cad=2
Funny how there are so many very similar books.
Harrison!!!! THAT’S THE BOOK!!!!!
OMG can’t believe it, thanks so much for finding it, I’ll be buying a copy ASAP.
Woo! 🙂