The Thief Lord

Cornelia Caroline Funke's The Thief Lord is a winter adventure in Venice for 11 year olds about two runaway brothers and the masked boy who looks after them.

What happens

Prosper is twelve and his little brother Bo is five. Since their mum died, their aunt Esther has wanted to adopt Bo and leave Prosper behind. So Prosper took his brother and ran. All the way from Hamburg to Venice, the city their mum always told them stories about.

Now they're hiding in an old cinema with a little gang of runaways. There's Hornet with her long plait, spiky-haired Riccio and Mosca with his radio. Keeping them all fed is Scipio, who wears a black mask and calls himself the Thief Lord. He breaks into the grandest houses in Venice at night and brings the loot home.

Meanwhile Esther has hired a private detective. Victor keeps tortoises, collects false moustaches and has never failed to find anyone yet. (He also spits in the canal for luck.)

Then a crooked antiques dealer with a ginger beard offers the children a very strange job, for a very rich client.

Venice is the magic here. Winged lions, stone angels and dragons on the rooftops, and a wind that tastes of snow. The whole city feels like one giant game of hide-and-seek.

What makes it so readable is that you get both sides. You're rooting for the children, but you also rather like Victor, who once ran away himself (for one afternoon).

Prosper is the heart of it. He hates stealing and does it anyway because Bo needs feeding. He's always half watching the crowds for his aunt. Any older brother or sister will know that feeling of being in charge when you'd rather not be!

Worth knowing before you hand it over

The boys' mum has died before the story starts, and the children live on what Scipio steals, which the book doesn't pretend is simple. There's a big cast of characters and it takes its time to set everything up. For a reader who likes to settle into a long adventure, that's all part of the fun.

What to read next

If they fall for Funke's storytelling, try Inkheart next. Meggie's father has never read aloud to her since her mother disappeared, and one rainy night a stranger stands outside their house staring in.