New York: Scholastic -The Chicken House, (2002.) dj. SIGNED hardcover - 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. 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. Glossary. 349 pp. ISBN: 0-439-404371.