She began writing novels in the late 1980s and focused primarily on fantasy-oriented stories that depict the lives of children faced with adversity.

[3] Funke achieved acclaim as the author of the children's novels The Thief Lord (2002) and Dragon Rider (2004), which were translated and released in English after originally being published in Germany.

The Thief Lord, Dragon Rider, and Inkheart have all been adapted into feature films and spent numerous weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list.

[11] Funke's first book to be translated into English was The Thief Lord, originally published in 2000 as Herr der Diebe.

[5] A sequel, Dragon Rider: The Griffin's Feather, was published over a decade later, in 2017,[16] and a feature film adaptation of the same name was released in 2020.

[17] Funke found further acclaim Inkheart (2003), which won the 2004 BookSense Book of the Year Award for Children's Literature.

[18] Inkheart was the first part of a trilogy and was continued with Inkspell (2005), which won Funke her second BookSense Book of the Year Award for Children's Literature in 2006.

The trilogy was initially concluded in Inkdeath, but was revived in 2020 when Funke announced that a sequel called Die Farbe der Rache (The Color of Revenge) will be published by October 2021 in Germany.

Funke moved to Los Angeles in 2005 after she had accepted the offer to participate as the film's producer alongside Barry Mendel.

[21] Directed by Iain Softley, the film is based on a screenplay by David Lindsay-Abaire and features an ensemble cast that includes Brendan Fraser, Helen Mirren, Paul Bettany, Jim Broadbent, Rafi Gavron, Andy Serkis, and newcomer Eliza Bennett, among others.

Of course, some of them are the result of hard thinking, adding characteristics, manners, etc., but others are alive from the first moment they appear", and pointed out that Dustfinger from Inkheart was one of the most vivid characters who ever popped into her mind.

[38] Since 2013, she has also been the Official Patron of the charity Ecologia Youth Trust, which helps marginalised children and young people around the world.