Cornelia Funke facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cornelia Funke
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Funke in 2023
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| Born | 10 December 1958 Dorsten, West Germany |
| Occupation | Author |
| Genre | Adventure, fantasy |
| Notable works | The Thief Lord, Dragon Rider, Inkheart series |
| Spouse |
Rolf Frahm
(m. 1979; died 2006) |
| Children | 2 |
Cornelia Maria Funke (born 10 December 1958) is a famous German author. She writes exciting children's fiction books.
Cornelia was born in Dorsten, Germany. She first worked as a social worker, helping children. Then, she became a book illustrator. Later, she started writing her own stories.
Her books are often fantasy adventures. They show children facing challenges. Cornelia Funke is now Germany's "bestselling author for children". Her books have been translated into many languages. By 2012, she had sold over 20 million copies worldwide!
She became very well known for The Thief Lord (2002) and Dragon Rider (2004). These books were first published in German. Then they were translated into English.
She also gained fame with her Inkheart series. This includes Inkheart (2003), Inkspell (2005), and Inkdeath (2007). The Thief Lord, Dragon Rider, and Inkheart have all been made into movies. They also spent many weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list.
People sometimes call Cornelia Funke the "German J. K. Rowling". In 2005, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Contents
Early Life and Inspiration
Cornelia Funke was born in 1958 in Dorsten, Germany. Her parents were Karl-Heinz and Helmi Funke. When she was a child, she dreamed of being an astronaut or a pilot.
But she decided to study pedagogy at the University of Hamburg. This is the study of teaching. After her studies, she worked for three years as a social worker. She helped children who were facing tough situations.
This work inspired her to write. She saw the kinds of stories these children enjoyed. Soon, she started writing her own books. She wrote her first story when she was 28 years old.
Becoming a Famous Author
In the late 1980s and 1990s, Cornelia Funke became a popular children's author in Germany. She wrote two early series. One was the fantasy Gespensterjäger (Ghosthunters). The other was the Wilde Hühner (C.H.I.X.) books.
Her books only started to be translated into English in 2002. A publisher named Barry Cunningham helped make this happen. He was famous for publishing Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. A young girl wrote to him, asking why Funke's books weren't in English. Cunningham then found Funke and published her novels through his new company, The Chicken House.
The Thief Lord
Cornelia Funke's first book translated into English was The Thief Lord. It was originally published in Germany in 2000. The English version came out in 2002. It was very popular and became a bestseller. In 2006, it was made into a movie.
Dragon Rider
Another early English translation was Dragon Rider. It was first published in Germany in 1997. When it came out in the United States in 2004, it was a huge success. It stayed on The New York Times Best Seller list for 78 weeks! It even reached number one on the Children's Best Seller list.
A sequel, Dragon Rider: The Griffin's Feather, was published in 2017. A movie based on the book was released in 2020.
The Inkheart Series
Funke gained even more fame with Inkheart (2003). This book won the 2004 BookSense Book of the Year Award. Inkheart was the first book in a trilogy.
The story continued with Inkspell (2005). This book won Funke her second BookSense Book of the Year Award in 2006. The trilogy finished with Inkdeath. In 2020, Funke announced a new sequel called Die Farbe der Rache (The Color of Revenge).
After the first Inkheart novel, New Line Cinema bought the rights to make movies of all three books. Cornelia Funke moved to Los Angeles in 2005. She worked as a producer on the film. The Inkheart movie started filming in 2006. It starred actors like Brendan Fraser and Helen Mirren. In 2009, a video game based on the movie came out for the Nintendo DS.
Other Works
In 2010, Cornelia Funke released Reckless. This was her first book since Inkdeath in 2007. Over a million copies of the first edition were printed! Two sequels, Fearless and The Golden Yarn, followed in 2013 and 2016.
In 2015, a movie called Ghosthunters on Icy Trails was released in Germany. It was based on her novel Ghosthunters and the Incredibly Revolting Ghost!.
In 2017, Funke published The Book No One Ever Read. This was her first book written entirely in English. She calls this picture book her "Inkheart for kindergartners." She also drew the pictures for it herself.
How Cornelia Funke Writes
Cornelia Funke says that a good book always starts with an "idea." She explains that ideas "come from everywhere and nowhere." She has so many ideas that she says she won't be able to write them all down in her lifetime.
When it comes to characters, Funke says they often "step into my writing room and are so much alive." She feels like they come to life on their own. She mentioned that Dustfinger from Inkheart was one of the most vivid characters she ever imagined.
For young people who want to be authors, Funke gives this advice: "Read – and be curious. And if somebody says to you: 'Things are this way. You can't change it' – don't believe a word."
Her early work as a social worker also shaped her writing. In The Thief Lord, she shows children in difficult situations. But she also shows them still being children. She celebrates children for their own strengths. In her picture book, The Book No One Ever Read, she begins with the line: "Every book longs to tell its story."
Personal Life
Cornelia Funke married Rolf Frahm in 1979. They had a daughter, Anna, born in 1989, and a son, Ben, born in 1994. The family lived in Hamburg, Germany, for 24 years. Then, in May 2005, they moved to Los Angeles, USA. Sadly, her husband passed away in March 2006. In 2021, Funke moved from the United States to Tuscany, Italy.
Cornelia Funke also helps others. Since 2010, she has been a patron for Bethel, a children's hospice. This place helps children who are very ill. Since 2012, she has been a German ambassador for the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity. This program helps protect nature. Since 2013, she has also supported Ecologia Youth Trust. This charity helps young people around the world who are in need.
Awards and Recognition
Cornelia Funke has won many awards for her books. Some of them include:
- 1998 – Kalbacher Klapperschlange for Drachenreiter (Dragon Rider)
- 2000 – La vache qui lit for Herr der Diebe (The Thief Lord)
- 2003 – Corine Literature Prize for Herr der Diebe
- 2003 – Mildred L. Batchelder Award for Herr der Diebe
- 2004 – Book Sense Children's Literature Award for Inkheart
- 2006 – Book Sense Book of the Year Children's Literature Winner for Inkspell
- 2008 – Roswitha Prize for all her amazing books
- 2020 – Special Award For Lifetime Achievement from the German Youth Literature Awards
- 2022 – Royal Society of Literature International Writer
Books by Cornelia Funke
Here are some of the book series Cornelia Funke has written:
Dragon Rider series
- Dragon Rider (1997, English release 2004)
- Dragon Rider: The Griffin's Feather (2017)
- Dragon Rider: The Aurelia Curse (2021)
MirrorWorld series
- Reckless (2010)
- Fearless (2013)
- The Golden Yarn (2016)
- The Silver Tracks (2021)
Inkheart series
- Inkheart (2003, English release 2005)
- Inkspell (2005, English release 2005)
- Inkdeath (2008, English release 2008)
- The Colour of Revenge (2024)
Ghosthunters series
- Ghosthunters and the Incredibly Revolting Ghost (1993, English version 2007)
- Ghosthunters and the Gruesome Invincible Lightning Ghost (1994, English version 2007)
- Ghosthunters and the Totally Moldy Baroness! (1995, English version 2007)
- Ghosthunters and the Muddy Monster of Doom! (2001, English version 2007)
C.H.I.X. series
- Die Wilden Hühner (1993) – The Summer Gang (C.H.I.X. – Book 1)
- Die Wilden Hühner auf Klassenfahrt (1995) – The New Girl (C.H.I.X. – Book 2)
- Die Wilden Hühner – Fuchsalarm (1998)
- Die Wilden Hühner und das Glück der Erde (2000)
- Die Wilden Hühner und die Liebe (2003)
Picture books
- The Princess Knight (2003)
- Pirate Girl (2005)
- The Wildest Brother (2006)
- Princess Pigsty (2007)
- The Pirate Pig (2015)
- Emma and the Blue Genie (2015)
- The Book No One Ever Read (2017)
Images for kids
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Funke in 2023
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Funke speaking at the 2023 Frankfurt Book Fair
See also
In Spanish: Cornelia Funke para niños
