Cornelia Funke was an illustrator before she became a writer. The stories she had to illustrate were so boring that she decided to write her own!
Brendan Fraser in Inkheart - Movie News - Empire Movies:
"Brendan Fraser will star in Inkheart based on Cornelia Funke's best-selling children's novel.The book centers on a girl whose father, a bookbinder, has the power to bring characters from books to life by reading aloud. When a villainous ruler and his band of rogues from a children's fable kidnap the man, his daughter and her friends -- both real and imaginary -- must set things right. Fraser will play the father, Mortimer 'Mo' Folchart, who also is known as Silvertongue.Iain Softley will direct for New Line. David Lindsay-Abaire wrote the adaptation."
http://movies.about.com/od/inkheart/Inkheart_2009.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inkheart