Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke
Have you ever wished that a story could become real? That a beloved character from a book could actually be alive, somebody to talk to and interact with and go on adventures with? Or maybe you’ve wished the opposite—that you could jump into the pages of your favorite story and explore the world created by an imaginative author.
Those are the themes of Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart trilogy, which display a deep love for books and storytelling, but also warn that those wishes might not turn out as pleasant as you wish. Mo Folchart is a bookbinder, and his talent for creating and repairing books is almost magical. But what is magical is his voice: when he reads aloud, people and objects from the stories come to life in the real world. But he hasn’t read anything aloud since his daughter Meg was three years old. That was when, while reading from a book called Inkheart, Mo read out three of the characters—and read his wife Reesa into the book.
Now, Meg is twelve. She and Mo have a very close relationship but much of this past is unknown to her. But then the characters from Inkheart begin to reappear in their lives—the villain Capricorn wants Mo to read treasure out of books for him. Dustfinger, a fire-breather, just wants to go back home. Along the way they encounter characters from other books, Meg’s book-collecting great-aunt Elinor and even the author of Inkheart, Fenoglio.
The trilogy takes place partly in our world and partly in the world of Inkheart, as some of the characters eventually make their way into this fictional world of monsters and fairies and magic. Fenoglio turns out to be an arrogant old man, so proud of his work that he fails to see the danger in the evil that he’s created. And Meg grows up, inheriting her dad’s skill and discovering romance for herself.
It’s a fantastic journey and my wife and I read the whole trilogy out loud to each other (though nobody magically appeared—for good or ill) and I’m eager to share it with our daughters when they’re old enough. While Meg doesn’t always make the most wise decisions (she’s an impulsive and fiery young girl) it does make for some wonderful adventures. Personally I didn’t care as much for the romantic subplot running through the second and third books, but Funke explains that that part of the story was expanded at the request of her own daughter.
For anyone who loves books and stories, I heartily recommend Inkheart. The epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter show Funke’s own love of reading, and will have you adding to your reading list as you go.
