The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Thief Lord
Book Review: This teacher loves it!
Summary: 5 Stars
As a teacher in a small, multiage classroom of grades 2 to 7, I am continually searching for books that I can read aloud to a wide age range. I read this book over the summer, previewing the book before I read it aloud at school. I loved it, and now my students do too. From the youngest student to the oldest, they are engrossed! This book has a lot of teaching potential, too, if you choose to use it that way. Moral dilemmas; is it okay to steal if you are hungry? Teach mapping skills, using the map at the front of the book. But most importantly, it is a great read with many surprises, twists and turns. It will keep you guessing to the end!Book Review: Review of The Thief Lord
Summary: 5 Stars
This was a wonderful book. It had well-developed characters who changed constantly throughout the story as a result of significant life events. The plot was well-structured and contained sufficient conflict and suspense to hold my interest. There were quite a few surprises that I was impressed with. The time and place is also suitable to the storyline.This story is about a group of orphans in beautiful Venice that seem to be forgotten and all alone yet they find strength in one another. You feel as if you know each of the children and can feel all of the emotions that they are experiencing. You can see how they overcome their problems. The story is believable and touching to me as a mother and a teacher.
Book Review: Not Bad
Summary: 4 Stars
Yeah, so it's not Harry Potter... Anyone really surprised by that? I think not. BUT, it's a GREAT bedtime story for the kids, and pleasent to read for adults. It's not a waste of money, it's really colorful.Book Review: A fine book that suffers only when compared to Harry P.
Summary: 4 Stars
I enjoyed this book very much; surely it will be one of the best if not the best and/or most popular kids' book published this year. It is a fast, gripping read, with entertaining characters, and Venice as its backdrop - surely the finest city in the world for a work of magic and imagination.It does come off as a bit of a collage built from other books - orphans Propser and Bo escape from an evil aunt and uncle (like Harry Potter), encounter a child-criminal mastermind (like Artemis Fowl), join a gang of kid thieves (like Oliver Twist) and tackle a historical mystery (like the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler). The characters are not quite as well developed as in these books, and it's less fantastical than Harry or Artemis (with one major exception that I will not spoil for you).
If you are a cynic you might think the author wrote it all with an eye to the main chance (selling the movie rights), in part because she dedicates the book to Bob Hoskins (presumably the actor) declaring that the character Victor looks just like him.
But if you're not so cynical you will really enjoy it - the author makes marvelous use of the city of Venice, it's funny and surprising and exciting. It seem like a screenplay pretending to a book, but it's really going to make a great movie.
Book Review: Very good, not outstanding
Summary: 4 Stars
Like the other reviewers, I had hoped for a book that would capture me like the Harry Potter books did. This was a good book, but not in the same league as the Potter books or some of the other books out there aimed at this age bracket. I bought an extra copy to give to an 11 year old boy and for the first quarter of the book I thought I had made a mistake. The main characters of the book are living in an abandoned movie theater and apparently living off of the proceeds of stolen goods. Not the best example I wanted to set for this 11 year old. As the book continued and more details were revealed, I began to enjoy the story much more. I did like it at the end and found that it (mostly) taught positive lessons. I gladly gaved the extra copy away. Buy it, read it, enjoy it, but don't expect it to change your life.