Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Funke, Cornelia. Inkheart. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 2003. 534 pages. $24.99 ISBN 9780439531641

Plot Summary: Meggie and Mo live a content life. Mo is a book doctor and Meggie an avid reader. A man shows up one day calling Mo, Silvertongue. Almost immediately the three travel to Meggie's Aunt Eleanor's to escape the clutches of the evil Capricorn and his gang. Capricorn is never too far behind.

Critical Evaluation: Funke created a fantastic fairy tale within her story that's almost as delightful as the actual novel is. Meggie is a very personable character, at least for someone who loves books and reading as much as she does.

Reader's Annotation: Inkheart follows Meggy and her father Mo as the run from Capricorn and his men and become entangled in their book, Inkheart.

Author Bio: Cornelia Funke was born and raised in Germany and has published her novels in German. She has published several fantasy novels including Dragon Rider, the Inkheart trilogy and The Thief Lord. She married Rolf Funke in 1981, a printer by trade. They lived in Hamburg with their children Anna (b. 1989) and Ben (b. 1994) until 2005 when they moved to Los Angeles, CA.

Genre: Fantasy

Curriculum Ties: None.

Booktalking Ideas: Talk about the idea of being able to venture into a book they're reading. Would they enjoy it? Or would it just be to weird?

Reading Level/Interest Age: Grades 3-6, Ages 8-12

Challenges: None.

Reason for including: When the book first came out I was very intrigued by the premise and had read The Thief Lord. I was hooked and eagerly awaited Inkspell and Inkdeath when they were published as well. In addition to reading the books, I listened to the audiobooks, Inkheart narrated by Lynn Redgrave, Inkspell narrated by Brendan Fraser, Inkdeath narrated by Allan Corduner.