For him that stealeth,or borroweth and returneth not,this book from its owner, let it change into a serpent in his hand and rend him. Let him be struck with palsy, and all his members blasted. Let him languish in pain, crying aloud for mercy, and let there be no surcease to this agony till he sing in dissolution. Let bookworms gnaw his entrails in token of the worm that dieth not, and when at last he goeth to his last punishment, let the flames of hell consume him for ever. Curse on book thieves, from the monastery of San Pedro, Barcelona, Spain

Inkheart was the first part of a trilogy which was continued with Inkspell (2005) which won Funke her second BookSense Book of the Year Children's Literature award (2006). Batchelder Award for Herr der Diebe
2003 Nordstemmer Zuckerrübe for Kleiner Werwolf
2004 Preis der Jury der jungen Leser for Tintenherz (Inkheart)
2004 Phantastik-Preis der Stadt Wetzlar for Tintenherz
2004 Kalbacher Klapperschlange for Tintenherz
2004 Book Sense Children's Literature Award (Children's Literature Honor Books) for Inkheart
2006 Book Sense Book of the Year Children's Literature Winner for Inkspell
2008 Roswitha Prize
Cornelia Funke was voted into the Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people of 2005. It was subsequently released as The Thief Lord by Scholastic and made it to the number 2 spot on The New York Times Best Seller list.

She was born on 10 December 1958 in Dorsten North Rhine-Westphalia. Many of her books have now been translated into English.