I have nished the first book and i am very egear to read the rest of the series. the children maneged to escape counts olafs plans. after i hade hade read the hole book i think that the theme the author was trying to convay was that even in the most desrate times one must never lose hope. i know this is the theme becuse even though many bad things have happened to the baudiler children they never gave up. becuse of this the children escaped count olafs plans.