Cornelia Funke The Thief Lord.(Book Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
The Horn Book Magazine - November 1, 2002
Anita L. Burkam
Word count: 403.
citation details
trans. by Oliver Latsch 352 pp. Chicken House/Scholastic 9/02 ISBN 0-439-40437-1 16.95 (g) (Intermediate)
The story opens with a solitary bachelor detective, Victor, accepting a commission to find two runaway brothers: Prosper, the older boy (who is not wanted); and Boniface, or Bo, who looks like an angel and is therefore dear to his childless (and humorless) aunt. The brothers have run away to Venice to avoid being separated and are living with a gang of thieving orphans presided over by the boyish, cocky Thief Lord. As Victor's sympathies begin to shift from the aunt to the brothers, the gang of thieves becomes entangled in a caper that involves stealing a wooden wing from a carved lion--the missing piece of a carousel that magically turns old people young again and makes children grow to adults in an instant. The problem is not the wing's owner, artist Ida Spavento--she actually helps them, provided she can follow along to discover where the wing will be taken. The real complication is the Thief Lord, whose identity turns out to be smaller-than-life and whose attraction to the magic of the carousel draws the gang into further danger. The story moves at a slow pace, lingering in explanatory dialogue and descriptions of Venice, but the idiosyncrasy and resonance of the central carousel image create a potent, continental atmosphere that laces the tale with a bit of excitement. In the course of pursuing the carousel's mystery, Victor and Ida and the brothers fob off Prosper and Bo's aunt with the kind of child she really wants and band together as a new kind of family--a sweet and comforting conclusion that will satisfy readers whose hearts have been touched by the loyalty and courage of the two brothers and the rewarded generosity of their new foster parents.
Most of the books are recommended; all of them are subject to the qualifications in the reviews. (g) indicates that the book was read in galley or page proof. The publisher's price is the suggested retail price and does not indicate a possible discount to libraries. Grade levels are only suggestions; the individual child is the real criterion. * indicates a book that the editors believe to be an outstanding example of its genre, of books of this particular publishing season, or of the author's body of work.
Title: Cornelia Funke The Thief Lord.(Book Review)(Children's Review)(Brief Article)
Author: Anita L. Burkam
Publication: The Horn Book Magazine (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 1, 2002
Publisher: Horn Book, Inc.
Volume: 78 Issue: 6 Page: 754(2)