Funke, Cornelia. 2002. The Thief Lord. United Kingdom: The Chicken House. ISBN 043940371.
PLOT SUMMARY
Cornelia Funke spins an exciting tale in The Thief Lord. Prosper and Bo are orphans on the run from their unwanted guardians in order to avoid being separated from each other. In Venice, they find themselves under the protection of the “Thief Lord,” along with three other runaways. The Thief Lord, a boy not much older than Prosper, claims to be a first-class criminal. However, the home that the runaways have managed to make for themselves is threatened by the Thief Lord’s secrets and by a detective hired to find the brothers.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This book is crowded. By that, I mean that is filled with a huge cast of characters, several important plots, and even a surprise supernatural twist. While one might fear that this would make the book difficult to follow, Funke actually manages to hold her reader’s attention throughout the story. It helps that her characters are so well developed and quirky. Ida Spavento doesn’t appear until page 172, but was so immediately appealing that I found myself fervently hoping that she would stick around for the rest of the book.
According to Funke’s website, the novel’s location was chosen because “Venice is an enchanted place, but it is also very real.” This allows her to tell a story that contains some supernatural elements and allows the children who read her book to see “that the real world can be just as enchanting as our beloved fantasy.”
Funke effectively draws her readers into the city of Venice. She does this primarily through her vivid descriptions of the setting. These descriptions are reinforced with the small pen and ink illustrations at the start and end of each chapter, depicting various settings or props. Another way that the author draws the reader into the setting is her inclusion of various Italian words and phrases throughout the story. A short glossary is included at the back of the book. I never felt confused or slowed down by any use of Italian in the book, but the glossary is a nice feature for readers who are interested in the exact meanings of the words used. Another interesting feature of the book is a map of Venice which helps readers track the characters as they travel throughout the city.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
Mildred L. Batchelder Award, 2003
School Library Journal: “Funke delineates her characters and the changing textures of their relationships with masterful subtlety, as well as sometimes-puckish humor. It's a compelling tale, rich in ingenious twists, with a setting and cast that will linger in readers' memories.”
CONNECTIONS
Readers who enjoyed The Thief Lord might also like these books filled with orphans, compelling characters, and enchanted atmospheres:
The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
REFERENCES
Funke, Cornelia. "The Thief Lord". http://www.corneliafunke.de/en/books/fantastic-stories/the-thief-lord/more-about-the-thief-lord.html
PLOT SUMMARY
Cornelia Funke spins an exciting tale in The Thief Lord. Prosper and Bo are orphans on the run from their unwanted guardians in order to avoid being separated from each other. In Venice, they find themselves under the protection of the “Thief Lord,” along with three other runaways. The Thief Lord, a boy not much older than Prosper, claims to be a first-class criminal. However, the home that the runaways have managed to make for themselves is threatened by the Thief Lord’s secrets and by a detective hired to find the brothers.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This book is crowded. By that, I mean that is filled with a huge cast of characters, several important plots, and even a surprise supernatural twist. While one might fear that this would make the book difficult to follow, Funke actually manages to hold her reader’s attention throughout the story. It helps that her characters are so well developed and quirky. Ida Spavento doesn’t appear until page 172, but was so immediately appealing that I found myself fervently hoping that she would stick around for the rest of the book.
According to Funke’s website, the novel’s location was chosen because “Venice is an enchanted place, but it is also very real.” This allows her to tell a story that contains some supernatural elements and allows the children who read her book to see “that the real world can be just as enchanting as our beloved fantasy.”
Funke effectively draws her readers into the city of Venice. She does this primarily through her vivid descriptions of the setting. These descriptions are reinforced with the small pen and ink illustrations at the start and end of each chapter, depicting various settings or props. Another way that the author draws the reader into the setting is her inclusion of various Italian words and phrases throughout the story. A short glossary is included at the back of the book. I never felt confused or slowed down by any use of Italian in the book, but the glossary is a nice feature for readers who are interested in the exact meanings of the words used. Another interesting feature of the book is a map of Venice which helps readers track the characters as they travel throughout the city.
REVIEW EXCERPTS
Mildred L. Batchelder Award, 2003
School Library Journal: “Funke delineates her characters and the changing textures of their relationships with masterful subtlety, as well as sometimes-puckish humor. It's a compelling tale, rich in ingenious twists, with a setting and cast that will linger in readers' memories.”
CONNECTIONS
Readers who enjoyed The Thief Lord might also like these books filled with orphans, compelling characters, and enchanted atmospheres:
The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
REFERENCES
Funke, Cornelia. "The Thief Lord". http://www.corneliafunke.de/en/books/fantastic-stories/the-thief-lord/more-about-the-thief-lord.html
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