Diary of a Wimpy Kid – Book Review
Cartoon Novel Series by Jeff Kinney Charms Kids and Adults
May 3, 2009
The latest craze keeping kids indoors isn’t video games or internet social programs. Kids have skipped out on sun-filled class breaks to read the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” book series by Jeff Kinney. Students sneak read behind textbooks and rush through class-work for extra reading time. One Southern California elementary school formed a book club where kids meet in the library during their morning recess to read and chat about the book.
Amusing Illustrations
One attraction is the illustrations. The silly, almost stick-like drawings of the wimpy kid himself, Greg Heffley, his family, friends, neighbors and kids from his middle school are enough to make anyone laugh out loud. The books are written as a journal by the protagonist, Greg, an average middle-school student who chronicles his life: his sufferings as the middle child, and the endless seemingly typical events that spotlight the absurdity of everyday life.
Book Success
The series, which now includes three novels and a Do-It-Yourself book, catapulted up the New York Times Bestseller List soon after its debut in April 2007, eventually earning the number one spot and becoming the top selling book in the country, according to USA Today. Each of the novels has spent several weeks in the number one spot of the New York and Los Angeles Times fiction lists and has been translated into 28 languages.
Kinney’s dream to become a newspaper cartoonist after college never materialized, and he instead became an online game developer. According to the official Wimpy Kid online site, Kinney began writing his ideas for the story in 1998, and worked on it for six years. He first published it in daily installments as a web comic on Funbrain.com.
The books have become gold for teachers and parents of reluctant readers. Kids who once bemoaned the very mention of reading now lap up every spare minute with the Wimpy Kid, even discussing which character they and their friends most resemble.
The Wimpy Kid Inside
The Wimpy Kid himself, Greg, is described as your archetypal adolescent – self-centered, a little clueless and always looking to increase his popularity through harebrained and hilarious schemes. He’s not necessarily a bad kid – or a hero. His realistic behavior is what makes him comical and relatable to both kids and adults.
In one of his diary entries, which he vehemently insists is a journal, Greg summarizes what anyone who has ever been a middle-school student thought but couldn’t quite articulate:
“Mom said I shouldn’t worry about what other people think…..So that just proves once and for all that Mom doesn’t understand a THING about kids my age.”
Not Just for Kids
Kinney’s original plan with the Wimpy Kid was to make the story a large 700 to 1,000 page comic novel for adults. Described as a “nostalgic Wonder Years” type story by Kinney and his publisher, Kinney’s ambition was to relive the awkwardness of middle school with more of the silliness and less of the serious stuff.
The irony now is that although the stories are advertised to kids, adults have turned their attention to the books to see what the fuss is all about; in essence, accomplishing Kinney’s original goal to target adults.
Wimpy Movie Star
Along with book four, coming this October, and final book five (2010), Hollywood has taken notice of the Wimpy obsession; Fox 2000 is planning a live-action family film adaptation of the books. Kinney, 38, has also been named a finalist for Time Magazine’s Most Influential People for 2009. Given the reading success his stories have created in schools, Kinney shouldn’t be surprised if he makes the list based on votes from kids, teachers and parents.
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