Inkheart trilogy

Story

Young Meggie Folchart finds out that she and her bookbinder father are ‘Silvertongues’ – people who can bring fictional characters to life by reading aloud. This power comes with a price, though – villains can escape from the Inkworld alongside heroes, and people dear to Meggie, including her mother, become lost in fiction.

Why we chose it

A book about books for anyone who has ever wanted to fall into a book. A magical fantasy adventure in which story characters come to life and the real world mingles with the fictional in a dangerous way.

Where it came from

Cornelia Funke was born in Dorsten, Germany but now lives in California. She started out as an illustrator, and has illustrated several of her own books, but soon made her career as a writer. She loves writing fantasy and adventure stories.

Where it went next

The three books in the trilogy, Inkheart (2003), Inkspell (2005) and Inkdeath (2007), were hugely popular; originally published in Germany, they were soon being sold all over the world. Inkheart won many prestigious awards in Germany, including the Phantastik-Preis der Stadt Wetzlar for children's fiction. The books were adapted for stage in 2004, and a musical version came out in 2006. A film version of Inkheart premiered in 2008, with a cast including Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren and Jim Broadbent. Cornelia Funke was a producer for the film.

Associated stories

Funke has written many other fantasy novels, including the Mirrorworld and Ghosthunter series, The Thief Lord and Dragon Rider. A fourth Inkheart story, The Colour of Revenge, is due to be published in 2021.