Background
Funke was born on December 10, 1958, in Dorsten, Germany, the daughter of Karl-Heinz and Helmi Funke. She wanted to become an astronaut or a pilot but ultimately decided to study pedagogy.
20146 Hamburg, Germany
Funke got a degree in education theory from the University of Hamburg.
(The enchanting international bestseller with bonus back m...)
The enchanting international bestseller with bonus back matter and a beautiful new cover! Two orphaned brothers, Prosper and Bo, have run away to Venice, where crumbling canals and misty alleyways shelter a secret community of street urchins. Leader of this motley crew of lost children is a clever, charming boy with a dark history of his own: He calls himself the Thief Lord. Prosper and Bo relish their new "family" and life of petty crime. But their cruel aunt and a bumbling detective are on their trail. And posing an even greater threat to the boys' freedom is something from a forgotten past: a beautiful magical treasure with the power to spin time itself.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005ONK65C/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i5
2002
(With a lonely boy named Ben on board, the brave young dra...)
With a lonely boy named Ben on board, the brave young dragon Firedrake sets out on a magical journey to find the mythical place where silver dragons can live in peace forever. Flying over moonlit lands and sparkling seas, they encounter fantastic creatures, summon up surprising courage - and cross the path of a ruthless villain with an ancient grudge who's determined to end their quest. Only a secret destiny can save the dragons in this enchanting adventure about the true meaning of home.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005HE3RYA/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i2
2004
(From internationally acclaimed storyteller Cornelia Funke...)
From internationally acclaimed storyteller Cornelia Funke, this bestselling, magical epic is now out in paperback! One cruel night, Meggie's father reads aloud from a book called Inkheart - and an evil ruler escapes the boundaries of fiction and lands in their living room. Suddenly, Meggie is smack in the middle of the kind of adventure she has only read about in books. Meggie must learn to harness the magic that has conjured this nightmare. For only she can change the course of the story that has changed her life forever. This is Inkheart - a timeless tale about books, about imagination, about life. Dare to read it aloud.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005OBBV44/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0
2005
(The captivating sequel to Inkheart, the critically acclai...)
The captivating sequel to Inkheart, the critically acclaimed, international bestseller by Cornelia Funke - available for the first time in a beautifully designed trade paperback! Although a year has passed, not a day goes by without Meggie thinking of Inkheart, the book whose characters became real. But for Dustfinger, the fire-eater brought into being from words, the need to return to the tale has become desperate. When he finds a crooked storyteller with the ability to read him back, Dustfinger leaves behind his young apprentice Farid and plunges into the medieval world of his past. Distraught, Farid goes in search of Meggie, and before long, both are caught inside the book, too. But the story is threatening to evolve in ways neither of them could ever have imagined.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005ONK5Z8/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i3
2005
(What would happen if Santa fell to Earth? Christmas throu...)
What would happen if Santa fell to Earth? Christmas through the eyes of Cornelia Funke: quirky, funny, ultimately heartwarming, and packaged in a collectible format. A new holiday classic! Scared by a storm, Twinklestar, the least reliable reindeer, bolts-causing Santa and his sleigh to crash-land. And though Santa has dropped into a friendly neighborhood, he's not safe: Jeremiah Goblynch, the ruthless new leader of the Council of Yuleland, is determined to put an end to children's wishes and turn the holiday season into his own personal moneymaking scheme. As the last REAL St. Nick around, only Santa stands between Goblynch and his grinchlike plan. With the help and hope of kids Charlotte and Ben, Santa must face Goblynch and his Nutcracker goons to save Christmas!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005HE2Q0Q/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i11
2006
(The masterful conclusion to the epic, award-winning, NYT ...)
The masterful conclusion to the epic, award-winning, NYT bestselling Inkheart trilogy by internationally acclaimed author Cornelia Funke. The Adderhead - his immortality bound in a book by Meggie's father, Mo - has ordered his henchmen to plunder the villages. The peasants' only defense is a band of outlaws led by the Bluejay - Mo's fictitious double, whose identity he has reluctantly adopted. But the Book of Immortality is unraveling, and the Adderhead again fears the White Women of Death. To bring the renegade Bluejay back to repair the book, the Adderhead kidnaps all the children in the kingdom, dooming them to slavery in his silver mines unless Mo surrenders. First Dustfinger, now Mo: Can anyone save this cursed story?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005ONK5X0/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i1
2008
(It's now been two years since Ben and Firedrake defeated ...)
It's now been two years since Ben and Firedrake defeated Nettlebrand and rescued the silver dragons. Both boy and dragon have finally found homes, but they must live hundreds of miles apart and can only see each other every once in a while. During one such visit, news reaches Ben, the Greenblooms, and their friends that the last Pegasus in the world has been discovered. The legendary horse has three unhatched eggs with him, but the only way they'll ever hatch - and continue the survival of this incredible magical species - is to place them under a griffin's feather. But griffins are the most dangerous creatures in the world, and their mortal enemies are dragons... Ben has vowed not to tell Firedrake about his quest, to protect him. But as he and the Greenbloom team set off for a remote island where the terrible griffins are rumored to live, he may just need the help of his best friend and dragon...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0756W29WX/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i6
2017
(A New York Times Bestseller! Fans of dark fairy-tales lik...)
A New York Times Bestseller! Fans of dark fairy-tales like The Hazel Wood and The Cruel Prince will relish this atmospheric and absorbing book based on Guillermo del Toro’s critically acclaimed movie. Oscar winning writer-director Guillermo del Toro and bestselling author Cornelia Funke have come together to transform del Toro’s hit movie Pan’s Labyrinth into an epic and dark fantasy novel for readers of all ages, complete with haunting illustrations and enchanting short stories that flesh out the folklore of this fascinating world. This spellbinding tale takes readers to a sinister, magical, and war-torn world filled with richly drawn characters like trickster fauns, murderous soldiers, child-eating monsters, courageous rebels, and a long-lost princess hoping to be reunited with her family. A brilliant collaboration between masterful storytellers that’s not to be missed.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074Z5ZBZL/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i4
2019
Funke was born on December 10, 1958, in Dorsten, Germany, the daughter of Karl-Heinz and Helmi Funke. She wanted to become an astronaut or a pilot but ultimately decided to study pedagogy.
Funke got a degree in education theory from the University of Hamburg. She also studied book illustration at Hamburg State College of Design.
Although Funke originally was educated as a social worker, after graduating from the University of Hamburg she put herself through a program in book illustration while working with underprivileged children during the day. She began an illustration career designing board games and book art, but at first had no plans to become a children's author. However, as she was exposed to the books being written for children while working as an illustrator, Funke grew frustrated with the lack of imaginative storytelling. In the mid-1990's she saw her first book published in her native Germany, and her books - which are based on meticulous research and feature children stepping into magical worlds, paired with her engaging illustrations - quickly became popular.
English-speaking readers would never have discovered the fantasy fiction of Funke if it had not been for one particularly devoted reader. A young fan in Funke's native Germany was prompted to write to English-based publisher Chicken House when she discovered that she could not read her favorite books in English as well as German. This letter inspired curiosity in the publisher, and a little research revealed Funke to be one of the most popular children's book writers in all of Germany. Orchestrating the translation of Funke's then-current children's book, Herr der Diebe, into English (by the author's cousin, because no one else would undertake it), Chicken House had a bestseller on its hands with 2002's The Thief Lord. The book won Funke even more English-language fans when it was released in the United States by Scholastic. In the years since the author's popularity among English-language readers has been further enhanced by the films that have been made from her books The Thief Lord and Inkheart, and in 2005 she and her family left her native Hamburg, Germany, to make the United States her new home.
When The Thief Lord was first published in England, it sold out in ten days, and in the United States it reached number two on the New York Times children's bestseller list. The book was edited by Barry Cunningham, the man who recognized British author J.K. Rowling's talent and published Rowling's "Harry Potter" series in England. Inkheart, Funke's 2002 novel, was also successful in translation, and other books that have made the move into English include Inkheart's sequel, Inkspell, and several of Funke's books for younger readers: Dragon Rider, The Wildest Brother, and The Princess Knight. By 2005 Funke had published over three dozen books, which were published in twenty-eight countries.
The Thief Lord is about orphan brothers Prosper, aged twelve, and five-year-old Boniface (Bo), who run away when their childless aunt and uncle decide that they only want Bo to live with them in their house in Hamburg. Before she died, the boys' mother had told the siblings about the wonders of Venice, Italy, and that is where the fugitives now flee. Unfortunately, the boys' relatives are angered at Bo's departure and hire relentless private detective Victor Getz to follow the children's trail. Hiding in an abandoned movie theater, they live among other street children, their hideout fitted with blankets and mattresses, and full of kittens to be petted and comic books and paperbacks to be read. Among their urchin comrades is twelve-year-old Scipio - the Thief Lord of the title - who steals from the rich to support this band of pickpockets and petty thieves. While Scipio usually deals in jewels, when he accepts a job to steal a broken wooden wing from a carved lion, the children realize that the heist involves more than it at first appears. In fact, the lion is part of a magic carousel that has the power to change children into adults and adults into children. Photographer Ida Spavento, who owns the wing, agrees to give it up as long as Scipio and his band keep her posted as they search for the merry-go-round. Meanwhile, P.I. Getz finds himself drawn to the plight of Prosper and Bo and their new friends.
The first part of a trilogy, Inkheart revolves around twelve-year-old Meggie, whose bookbinder father, Mo, has a special gift that has almost become a curse. Whenever Mo reads aloud, the characters from the book he is reading are pulled into the real world, while real-world people are pulled into the characters' fictional world. Almost a decade earlier problems arose when Mo read Fenoglio's Inkheart; the characters that were released included the evil Capricorn, while Meg's mother disappeared into the book. Now, nine years have past and a much older Meg learns Mo's secret, which explains why her father never read to her while she was growing up. Mo's secret also explains the complexity of the chain of events that begin to unwind after she meets a scarred stranger named Dustfinger. Calling Mo Silver-tongue, Dustfinger warns the bookseller that Capricorn's evil henchmen are on his trail. They hope to force Mo to read a monster out of the troublemaking book, then direct the creature to kill Capricorn's enemies. Together with Dustfinger, Meggie, Mo, and Meggie's great-aunt Elinor set off to find Fenoglio, hoping that he can write a new ending to the story that now threatens their lives.
Each chapter of Inkheart begins with a quotation from a classic children's book, such as Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, and J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit.
As Inkspell, the sequel to Inkheart, opens, Meggie is serving as Dustfinger's apprentice, joined in that capacity by a boy named Farid. With the aid of a stranger named Orpheus, the three are allowed to travel into the Inkworld, home of Fenoglio and the only place where the evil caused by Capricorn can be written out of Inkheart. Orpheus, with the same talent as Meggie's father, also reads several other characters back into the book, allowing Meggie and Mo to rejoin Meggie's mother. As events unfold, wars, intrigues, and other threats mask Funke's underlying question: "what might happen if authors try to change the world they have created."
In Dragon Rider, which Funke published in the original German in 1997, she transports readers to the wilds of Scotland, where the earth's last silver dragons live. When their secluded home is finally threatened by humans, a young dragon named Firedrake and a taciturn brownie named Sorrel set out to locate the ancient home of the silver dragons, a place located in the Himalayan mountains. On their journey to the Rim of Heaven, Firedrake and Sorrel are joined by an orphaned boy named Ben and Twigleg, a golem-like creature who is under the sway of the silver dragon's arch enemy, Nettlebrand. The journey, overshadowed by Nettelbrand's sinister machinations, involves encounters with a host of mythic creatures, including djinni, elves, basilisks, roc, sea serpents, and dwarves, and reveals the laws that underlie dragon magic.
In addition to epic fantasies, Funke has authored a number of illustrated books for younger readers, many featuring Funke's own artwork and several a collaboration between the writer and illustrator Kerstin Meyer. In Pirate Girl, Funke and Meyer pair up to tell the story of an imaginative little girl named Molly, who is sailing to the home of her grandmother. Forced to engage in such horrid activities as peeling potatoes and swabbing decks after being abducted by Captain Firebeard and his band of bloodthirsty pirates, Molly attempts to escape but gets caught, and a walk on the plank is only avoided by one of the most feared pirates of all - who coincidentally looks a great deal like Molly's mother. Another collaboration, The Wildest Brother, introduces Ben, a loving younger brother whose vivid imagination transforms the playful torments he visits on annoyed older sister Anna into battles against a terrible monster.
Funke has been the official patron of the children's hospice Bethel for dying children since February 2010. Since 2012, she has been one of the German ambassadors of the UN Decade on Biodiversity. Since 2013, she has also been the Official Patron of the charity Ecologia Youth Trust, which helps marginalised children and young people around the world.
(The captivating sequel to Inkheart, the critically acclai...)
2005(From internationally acclaimed storyteller Cornelia Funke...)
2005(The enchanting international bestseller with bonus back m...)
2002(A New York Times Bestseller! Fans of dark fairy-tales lik...)
2019(With a lonely boy named Ben on board, the brave young dra...)
2004(What would happen if Santa fell to Earth? Christmas throu...)
2006(The masterful conclusion to the epic, award-winning, NYT ...)
2008(It's now been two years since Ben and Firedrake defeated ...)
2017Funke's early time as a social worker has inspired the way in which she deals with the themes in her literature. In The Thief Lord, she shows children being in a difficult situation, but also still being children. Scipio says once that he is a good thief because he is small. She is willing to celebrate children for their own strengths, not just their ability to act like adults.
Funke married Rolf Frahm in 1979. The couple's daughter, Anna, was born in 1989 and a son, Ben, in 1994. The family lived in Hamburg for 24 years, until they moved to Los Angeles in May 2005. In March 2006, her husband died of cancer.