Search advanced search
 
Books
Search:
x dismiss this message

Did you know you can edit this page?

The Thief Lord
  • Rated 0 stars
Read The Thief Lord

The Thief Lord (2000) (edit title/settings)

by Cornelia Funke (Author) (edit contributors)

Share this book on:
see page history

Description edit see section history

Welcome to the magical underworld of Venice, Italy. Here, hidden canals and crumbling rooftops shelter runaways and children with incredible secrets....

After escaping from their cruel aunt and uncle, orphans Prosper and Bo meet a mysterious boy who calls himself the "Thief Lord." Clever... read more

Summary edit see section history

The Thief Lord concerns two brothers, Prosper and Boniface (Bo), who run away to Venice, Italy after their mother dies. After they are orphaned, Bo (who is five years old) is sent to live with his cruel aunt Esther while Prosper (who is around twelve) is sent to a boarding school. However,... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

The Thief Lord concerns two brothers, Prosper and Boniface (Bo), who run away to Venice, Italy after their mother dies. After they are orphaned, Bo (who is five years old) is sent to live with his cruel aunt Esther while Prosper (who is around twelve) is sent to a boarding school. However, Prosper runs away with Bo. Together, they decide to go to Venice, the magical city that their mother always talked about. The boys are soon be friended by four other orphans: Hornet, Riccio, Mosca, and their mysterious leader, Scipio (or the "Thief Lord") The children take Prosper and Bo to an abandoned movie theatre, the Stella or Star-Palace, which is where they all live. The children survive by selling the things that Scipio steals from wealthy houses to an old shopkeeper, Ernesto Barbarossa. All is well until Prosper and Bo's aunt Esther soon finds out that the boys are in Venice. She contacts a disguise-loving detective, Victor Getz, to capture the boys. Meanwhile, Barbarossa tells the children about one of his clients that needs someone to procure (steal) something for him. The Thief Lord accepts the job and meets the client, who is called The Conte, in a confessional with the others. They find out that the object they are to steal is a wooden wing and that they are to steal it from a wealthy photographer's house, whose name is Ida Spavento. If they manage to steal it, they will receive five million lire.

While Mosca, Prosper, and the Thief Lord are inside the confessional talking to the Conte, Riccio, Hornet, and Bo wait outside. Bo is distracted by a tourist who is actually Victor in disguise. Victor persuades Bo to tell him his name and that he lives in an abandoned movie theatre which was a very bad choice for them. When the others see Bo talking to Victor, Victor escapes, but watches the kids as they enter a store. The older children find out that Victor "the tourist" is actually a detective (which is why they enter the store.) Hornet follows Victor and creates a distraction by pretending that Victor was trying to kidnap and hurt her while the others escape back to the movie theatre. Hornet manages to steal Victor's wallet and the children find out that Victor is a detective and is trying to capture Prosper and Bo.

Victor visits the very wealthy Dottore Massimo, the owner of the Stella, and finds out that Scipio the "Thief Lord" is actually Dottore Massimo's son, instead of an orphan like he has told the other children. Scipio manages to warn the children that Victor is coming. They capture Victor when he comes looking for them and hold him prisoner. However, Victor tells them that Scipio is actually a young rich boy. When the group doesn't believe him, he tells them to visit Doctor Massimo's house. They go to the house and find out that Scipio has lied to them all along and actually stole all the loot from his own father. When the orphans come back to the movie theatre,Riccio was the maddest and all the kids were feeling betrayed by the Thief Lord, they discover that Victor has escaped. However, he leaves a note telling them that he will not tell Esther where Prosper and Bo are, if they do not continue the heist to steal the wing. The orphans decide to sneak into Ida's house to steal the valuable wing for the Conte without Scipio. However, when at the house they find out that Scipio is already there. They are all eventually caught and Ida reveals the story of the wing, which was actually part of a magical merry-go-round that can turn a child into an adult and an adult into a child. The group decides to give the wing to the Conte. On the night of the trade, Hornet and Bo stay at the Stella while the others trade the wing in. After they make the trade with the Conte and his sister, the Contessa, they follow behind on Ida's boat where they find the Conte's island, where he must be keeping the merry-go-round. Meanwhile, Hornet and Bo are captured by the police. Hornet is taken to an orphanage while Bo is returned to Esther.

The children find out where Hornet and Bo are and that the money they received from the Conte was fake. Prosper is in despair, and decides to leave with Scipio to go to the island. Meanwhile, Bo is with his aunt and uncle, where he throws tantrum after tantrum, eventually running away. Victor finds him at the Stella and takes him to Ida's home to find that Prosper is not there. Meanwhile, Prosper and Scipio reach the island. They meet a younger version of the Conte and Contessa, and Scipio demands a ride on the merry-go-round, so he can grow up, and move out of his home and away from his father. He successfully manages to age correctly, but Barbarossa shows up and demands to see the Conte's treasure. They trick him into riding the merry-go-round and he is turned into a small child. In an attempt to stop, he breaks the wing, effectively rendering the Merry-Go-Round useless, and making the age changes irreversible. Soon Scipio and Prosper return to Ida's with baby Barbarossa, where Prosper learns that Bo is no longer wanted by their aunt and can live with Prosper. Meanwhile, Hornet is taken out of the orphanage by Ida, who pretends to be her godmother.

Soon afterwards, , Prosper, and Bo decide to live with Ida and go to school while Mosca and Riccio decide to live with Hornet in an abandoned warehouse (since they do not want to go to school). Scipio works for Victor and sends letters to his father saying that he is alright, but can't come home. They all live happily and visit each other often. Barbarossa has tricked Esther into adopting him when he finds out that she is rich. He acts sweet and innocent to get her to take him in, but when he arrives at Esther's house he is caught stealing. Tearfully, Esther sends him to a boarding school where he is the biggest bully, making children do his homework, polish his shoes, and sometimes even steal things. He also makes the children call him a famous name said throughout the book... "The Thief Lord".All went well; without the greedy Barbarrosa.

Characters edit see section history

  • Scipio Massimo: The Thief Lord. In the book, Bo alone is allowed to call him 'Scip'; others aren't allowed to. He is thirteen, has dark brown eyes and raven black hair. He wears a distinctive mask with a nose shaped like a birds beak.
  • Caterina Grimani: Prefers the name Hornet over her real name, Caterina. The boys only find this out because it is written in several of her books. but she never talks about her old life because she claims it makes her too sad. She is slender and has brown hair worn in a long braid to her hips. It looks like a hornet's stinger which is where she got the nickname. She is a very clever girl, and she always has her nose in a book.
  • Riccio: Sometimes called Hedgehog, or Riccio the hedgehog. He is a scrawny boy and smaller than Prosper. He has brown hair that sticks out everywhere, earning him his nickname. He also has bad teeth and one is missing from a chase he was in once. His living space is scattered with stuffed animals and his mattress is full of comics. He also loves sweets and candy, which is why he has horrible teeth.
  • Mosca: He is a tall, muscular boy of African descent. His skin is so black that Riccio says that he could creep through the shadows. He loves the water and even made his own boat. Mosca is always fiddling with his radio and eventually fixes the projector in the movie theatre and makes his own film where he has a father who is "always thinking of him" but sailed away in a boat and never came back.
  • Prosper: Prosper is a 12-year old boy, who acts much older than he is by being fiercely protective of his younger brother, Bo. When their mother dies, Prosper's only idea is to take himself and Bo to Venice. Their mother often told them stories about Venice, and how magical it was there. His only other choice was to let Bo fall into the custody of their awful and cruel aunt and uncle, and himself into the orphanage, never to see Bo again.
  • Esther Hartlieb: Prosper and Bo's snobby, rich aunt. She only wants to keep Bo because he looks like an angel and decides to send Prosper to boarding school so she can get rid of him and keep him from seeing Bo. She hires Victor to find Bo.
  • Ernesto Barbarossa: Sometimes referred as the "Redbeard". An extremely cheap antique dealer that loves to rip people off. The children deal with him because he has no problem dealing with stolen items or doing business with children.
  • Conte Valaresso: The old man that Scipio, Mosca, and Prosper met in a confessional while planning to steal something for him. He is the Thief Lord's first client asking for something to be stolen and says that he will give him a large amount of money, His real name is Renzo
  • Dottor Massimo: Wealthy doctor in Venice.
  • Sister Lucia: The maid and cook for Ida Spavento. She worked extremely hard and stayed loyal to Ida even when all the children moved in with her.
  • Mr. and Mrs. Hartlieb: Max and Esther Hartlieb are the aunt and uncle of Prosper and Bo. Mrs. Hartlieb was their mother's sister, and she got the boys when their mother died. Esther loves Bo, but can't stand Prosper so she gets the ideas that she will just send Prosper off to an orphanage and keep Bo. Instead of this happening the boys run away together so they won't be seperated.
  • Victor Getz: Victor Getz is a private detective, who roams around Venice for whatever his clients are looking for. Usually, the item is a suitcase or a dog or something like that. This case is a bit different. He's never had to search for children before,but he's determined to find them. Esther and Max hire him to find Bo and turn Prosper in for taking him.
  • Signora Grimani: Old lady who lives in Victor's building and asks Victor favors.
  • Morosina: Renzo's sister, also known as the Countessa
  • Farid: Add a description of this character.
  • Dustfinger
  • Giaco
  • Clara Baganel George
  • Max Hartlieb
  • Gabrielli Sandwirth
  • Madonna
  • Bo
  • Ida Spavento
  • Paula
  • Titian
Show all 25 characters
Popular Covers

Loading covers…

Choose your book’s cover

Quotes edit see section history

  • “Grownups are like butterflies, they never remember what it was like to be a caterpillar.”
    Scipio
  • “Scipio fiddled with the string on his mask and looked at Prosper. 'I want to go there,' he said. 'With you.'”
    Page 250
  • “You may look older, but has it made you wiser, Thief Lord?”
    Barbossa
  • “One should not plan a thief in a confessional, and that's what we're here for, right?”
    Scipio
  • “Catch fish - uugh!”
    Riccio

Setting & Locations edit see section history

Venice

Organizations edit see section history

  • The Merciful Sisters: A group of nuns who take it upon themselves to bring in orphans and/or runaways and give them a decent home for awhile.

First Sentence edit see section history

It was autumn in Venice when Victor first heard of Prosper and Bo.

Table of Contents edit see section history

1 Victor's New Clients
2 Three Children
3 The Star Palace
4 The Thief Lord
5 Barbarossa
6 A Nasty Coincidence
7 Bad Luck for Victor
8 Scipio's Answer
9 Everybody is Small at Night
10 The Message
11 Victor Waits
12 Meeting in the Confessional
13 Pumping for Information
14 Premonitions
15 A Beating for Victor
16 The Conte's Envelope
17 Victor's Trace
18 Alarm!
19 Trapped
20 A Night Visit
21 Baffled
22 The Casa Spavento
23 Quarrels
24 Young Master Massimo
25 A Word of Honor
26 The Break-In
27 An Old Story
28 Scipio, the Liar
29 Another Visit
30 Hopeless Lies
31 No Bo
32 The Island
33 Just a Note
34 Father and Son
35 Visitors for Victor
36 The Refuge
37 The Orphanage
38 Prosper
39 All Lost
40 The Isola Segreta
41 A Late Night Phone Call
42 Safety
43 The Conte
44 The Merry-Go-Round
45 A Few Rounds Too Many
46 Barbarossa's Punishment
47 Strange Visitors
48 A Crazy Idea
49 What Now?
50 The Bait
51 Esther
52 Everything Will Work Out Fine -- Or Will It?
53 And Then...

Glossary edit see section history

Show all 18 glossary entries

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

  • Children vs. Adults: The biggest theme in this book is children vs. adults. The children say how they never want to grow up, yet they wish they had the respect that adults get. The adults spend there time looking for the children, while the children do their best to hide from them. It is a constantly reoccuring theme that makes the book more interesting.
  • Buterflies and Caterpillars: Funke uses butterflies and caterpilllars to symbolize adults vs. children throughout the book.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Cornelia Funke (Author)

Other Contributors:

  1. Oliver Latsch (Translator) - The Thief Lord, by Cornelia Funke and translated from the German by Oliver Latsch
  2. Christian Birmingham (Cover Artist)
  3. Roberto Falcó (Translator) - Spanish translation.

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: German
Publisher: Dressler Verlag
Country: Germany
Publication Date: 2000
ISBN: 978-0439404372
Page Count: 345

Classification edit see section history

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

great book for your kids to read. it will really get them thinking. This book is very adventurous and your children will love it. It is appropriate and very interesting at the same time. I read it when I was 16 and only wish that I read it at a younger age. It is fun and easy reading.

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • The Magic Thief
  • Reckless
  • Inkspell
  • Dragon Rider
  • The Princess Knight
  • Inkdeath

We’re hiding the errata, books that influenced this book, books influenced by this book, books that cite this book and books cited by this book sections. If you would like to add content to them, you must first make them visible.

Sam :D

You were just viewing this book on Sam :D’s shelf.
(see review)

 

© 2006-2013 Shelfari | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy

Close