Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Jeff Kinney, 2007
★ 3.99 from 816.2k ratings on Goodreads
An illustrated journal of middle-school schemes, grievances and social disasters, told by a kid who is sure he is the only sane person in the building. A quick, funny read with a wry kid’s voice, cartoon doodles, and a pace that keeps the school-day disasters coming.
Feels like humor, joy and unease. About adventure, friendship and identity.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy comic diary formats, middle-school nostalgia, and jokes about social missteps. Be aware that Greg can be selfish and unkind to friends, and some readers find the humor a poor fit for younger children.
Why read it
It offers a fast, funny look at school status and friendship through a kid who thinks he’s the only sensible one, with drawings that lighten the cringe.
A page from the book
A letter found years later
First of all, let me get something straight: This is a JOURNAL, not a diary. I know what it says on the cover, but when Mom went out to buy this thing I SPECIFICALLY told her to get one that didn’t say “diary” on it. Great. All I need is for some jerk to catch me carrying this book around and get the wrong idea. What readers say
Readers often laugh out loud and find the diary format cute, quick, and relatable to middle-school life, with some nostalgia for their own school days. Others are put off by the protagonist’s mean, selfish behavior and bad friendship, and question whether the humor suits younger children.
Jeff Kinney.Jeff Kinney first published Diary of a Wimpy Kid as a webcomic on Funbrain in 2004; the print book followed in 2007.
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Questions readers ask
- Is Diary of a Wimpy Kid for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy comic diary formats, middle-school nostalgia, and jokes about social missteps. Be aware that Greg can be selfish and unkind to friends, and some readers find the humor a poor fit for younger children.
- What is Diary of a Wimpy Kid like?
- A quick, funny read with a wry kid’s voice, cartoon doodles, and a pace that keeps the school-day disasters coming. Feels like humor, joy and unease. About adventure, friendship and identity.
- What should I read after Diary of a Wimpy Kid?
- If you liked Diary of a Wimpy Kid, try Charlotte's Web (E. B. White), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Roald Dahl) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J. K. Rowling).
A taste of the feed
What contentment looks like when it includes the rats and the manure.
It was the best place to be, thought Wilbur, this warm delicious cellar, with the garrulous geese, the changing seasons, the heat of the sun, the passage of swallows, the nearness of rats, the sameness of sheep, the love of spiders, the smell of manure, and the glory of everything.
Charlotte's Web · E. B. White
A river you could swim in, and a man who cannot stop explaining it.
WILLY WONKA: Nothing wrong with it, my boy! Nothing! Nothing at all! It’s all chocolate! Every drop of that river is hot melted chocolate of the finest quality. The very finest quality. There’s enough chocolate in there to fill every bathtub in the entire country! And all the swimming pools as well! Isn’t it terrific? And just look at my pipes! They suck up the chocolate and carry it all away to all the other rooms in the factory where it is needed! Thousands of gallons an hour, my dear children! Thousands and thousands of gallons!
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory · Roald Dahl
Why a blank diary can feel like a friend you've half-forgotten.
Harry couldn’t explain, even to himself, why he didn’t just throw Riddle’s diary away. The fact was that even though he knew the diary was blank, he kept absent-mindedly picking it up and turning the pages, as though it was a story he wanted to finish. And while Harry was sure he had never heard the name T. M. Riddle before, it still seemed to mean something to him, almost as though Riddle was a friend he’d had when he was very small, and half-forgotten. But this was absurd. He’d never had friends before Hogwarts, Dudley had made sure of that.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets · J. K. Rowling
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