Friday's Highlight: Cornelia Funke & Holiday GIVEAWAY!

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Welcome to this stop on the

Book Lover's Holiday Giveaway Hop!

You can win these holiday goodies:

*When Santa Fell to Earth by Cornelia Funke (Hardcover)

*Milk chocolate covered Marzipan (Marzipan is in the book)

*4 pachets of flavored cocoa (Cocoa is in the book too)

*Mini Gingerbread House Kit

*Christmas Carol MadLibs
(MadLibs are hilarious. Do some with your family while you're all eating Christmas desert or digesting from your big meal or really just anytime there is a group. Or even if it's just two of you. I can't stress this enough. Make MadLibs your new Christmas tradition. You will LOVE it and your stomach muscles will totally get a workout.)

      Cornelia Funke (Foon-kuh) was born in Dorsten, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and now lives in Los Angeles, CA. She is the single mother of two (her husband, Rolf, of 25 yrs passed away in 2006. He was her one and only), as well the author of well over 20 books for youth including, but not limited to (because some of her books aren't available in English yet) The Thief Lord, The Inkworld trilogy, Igrain the Brave, Dragon Rider, Reckless, Saving Mississippi, The Princess Knight, The Ghosthunters series, Pirate Girl, Princess Pigsty, and The Wildest Brother.
     Cornelia has always loved working with and for children. She studied pedagogy in school and after graduation, was a social worker who helped children from troubled backgrounds. Cornelia was also an illustrator at one point, and then discovered that her real talent was writing. She began creating stories inspired by what the children she worked with liked. Writing books for youth has been her main focus ever since. 
     In 2009, Inkheart, the first book of the Inkworld trilogy was adapted into the Hollywood movie of the same name staring Helen Miren and Brenden Fraser. And get this, when Cornelia dreamed up and wrote Inkheart, Brenden Fraiser was in her mind the whole time as one of her characters. She even dedicated the book to him. Can you imagine her astonishment at having him cast in the movie?! That is literally (in every sense of the word) a dream come true! Cornelia's book The Theif Lord was also made into a movie in 2006 and is available on DVD (yes, even in America). The Thief Lord was actually the first book of Cornelia's that I read and I really enjoyed it (it was the first of her books to come to the states). There is subtle magic in it, until the very end when the magic just explodes. Good book, good (sweet) movie. And the book in this giveaway, When Santa Fell to Earth, is now a movie too (see below-below)!

Here are some great Cornelia Funke links to check out!
Cornelia Funke Fans website
Scholastic's Cornelia Funke page
The book trailer for one of her newest YA books, Reckless (and the UK trailer is cool too)
The Inkheart movie trailer
The Thief Lord movie trailer

Please watch this great interview with Cornelia Funke. She is so cool and down to earth.
(Maybe she fell here with Nicholas Goodfellow!)

(Amazon link)

"Out of all my books, this is one of my favourites, as I love the characters so much."

--Cornelia Funke about When Santa Fell to Earth

(From Goodreads)

Santa has landed in a whole lot of trouble! Thanks to Twinklestar, that marzipan-loving but lightning-shy reindeer, Santa and his caravan have come crashing down in a storm just two weeks before Christmas.

Luckily he’s (literally!) dropped into a nice neighborhood.

But Santa’s not safe.

The ruthless Gerold Geronimus Goblynch plans to put an end to children’s wishes and turn the holiday season into his personal moneymaking scheme. Only Santa stands between him and his grinchlike tricks. With the help of kids Charlotte and Ben, Santa will have to face Goblynch and his Nutcracker goons if he’s ever to rescue Christmas!
(Ages 8+)

Illustrated by Paul Howard

Here is a preview of the book from Google                   Translated by Oliver G. Latsch

Here's a cute fan-made trailer for the book.

And guess what! When Santa Fell to Earth has been made into a movie! It's showing now in Germany, but I'm sure it will eventually make it's way to America. (Trailer is in German)
*To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment on this post with your email address --like this: ladyofnarnia(at)yahoo(dot)com

*The giveaway will run until 11:59 PM MST on Tuesday, Dec. 6th. (Saint Nicholas Day!)
*Open to US residents only.
*One winner will be selected using random.org.
*I will email the winner and he or she will need to respond within two days or I will randomly pick another commenter.
**No need to be a follower! Just comment, please! (Unless you genuinely would like to keep up with my blog. Thanks!)
Here are the other participating blogs! Good luck!