Harper asked Cornelia Funke:

How did you come up with the ideas to write The Theif Lord and Dragon Rider? I loved those books!

Cornelia Funke I had the idea for ThiefLord in....Venice, Italy. Of course:) I remembered how much I wished to be grown up as a child- to finally do whatever I wanted to do. So I decided to write about a boy who has the same wish and is quite good at pretending to be grown up. I also made it by love song to children who deal with tough circumstances with courage and compassion- as I met some of those while working as a social worker.
As for Dragonrider - I extended the story of my very first book for that one re-inventing it with all the skills I had acquired as a writer by then. The original inspiration is - of course- my love for dragons and wild things.

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