New York: Scholastic -The Chicken House, 2002. SIGNED first edition - SIGNED on the title page. Two orphaned children who run away to Venice to escape their nasty aunt are 'hiding among the crumbling canals and misty alleyways of the city.They are befriended by a gang of street children and their mysterious leader, The Thief Lord.' Funke is described on the cover as the '3rd most popular writer in Germany after Rowling and Stine' but this book is far more mature and satisfying than the works of those authors. Quoted at the beginning of this advance issue is a note from the publisher of Chicken House describing a letter he received from an 11 year old girl wanting to know why Funke was not published in English - well, now she is - and children's fantasy literature is the richer for it! Illustrated with a double page map of Venice, small drawings of the city at the head of each chapter and vignettes at the chapter end. Winner of the 2003 Mildred L. Batchelder award, the Zurich Children's Book Award and the Children's Book Award from the Vienna House of Literature. 352 pp (last several pages blank.)