Cover of The Thief Lord

The Thief Lord

by Cornelia Funke

Widely assigned — 4 curriculum lists · 8 states

On reading-award lists:Pacific Northwest Young Reader's Choice AwardGreat Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association)Grand Canyon Reader Award (Arizona) — formerly the Arizona Young Readers AwardMassachusetts Children's Book Award

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke is assigned in US schools at grades 4–6. It appears across 4 curriculum references and 8 states, sourced from state DOE pages and AP/IB/Common Core syllabi. Every citation below links to the primary source.

This page shows where The Thief Lord is assigned in US schools — curricula, states, grades, and the primary-source citations behind each placement. Not a summary or study guide.

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Grade range
Grades 4–6
Pages
360
Reading time
about 6h 35m (est.)
First published
2005
ISBN-13
9780439852715

New to these terms? Reading levels by grade

More formats & details

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About this book

Escaping the aunt who wants to adopt only one of them, two orphaned brothers run away from Hamburg to Venice, finding shelter with a gang of street children and their leader, the thirteen-year-old "Thief Lord," while also eluding the detective hired to return them to Germany.

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Where this book is assigned

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Common questions

What grade level is The Thief Lord?
The Thief Lord is most commonly assigned in US schools in grades 4–6. Specific grade placement varies by curriculum — AP Literature and IB English Literature typically use it in grades 11-12.
How long does it take to read The Thief Lord?
It takes about 6h 35m to read The Thief Lord (360 pages) at an average adult reading pace of about 250 words per minute — roughly 395 minutes. Faster or slower readers will vary; the estimate is a planning guide for assigning the book.
What curricula assign The Thief Lord?
The Thief Lord appears on reading lists for Grand Canyon Reader Award (Arizona) — formerly the Arizona Young Readers Award, Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan Reading Association), Massachusetts Children's Book Award, and 1 others. Each assignment on this site links to its primary-source citation.
Is The Thief Lord banned in schools?
The Thief Lord does not appear in PEN America's Index of School Book Bans 2022-2024. No documented multi-district removals on record, but individual districts may challenge titles locally.

Why this book is on this list

How we classify

Each dimension below is sourced from a public reference. The full framework is documented on the classification standard page.

Lexile measure
Not classified — this book has no published Lexile measure.
Grade band
Grades 4–6 — drawn from state ELA frameworks and AP/IB syllabi citing this book.
Curriculum alignment
Cited in 4 curricula on this site (see “Where assigned” above for primary-source links).
State-level evidence
Cited in 8 states ELA frameworks or DOE list (see citations above).
Removal / banning records
No tracked removal or challenge records in cited sources.
Seasonal / contextual tags
Tagged for: award-winner, book-club.

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