Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Jeff Kinney will get your boys reading - and they will love it!
Greg Heffley is the said wimpy kid and, OK, hand up, I had never heard of Greg Heffley or Jeff Kinney (sorry) until I caught a mention on the radio. Even so it might have washed over me if I hadn't also taken in two things - one that Greg Heffley is better known than Harry Potter and that the Wimpy Kid Diaries are said to have sold between 75 million and 150 million copies worldwide. I'm the mother of a teenage boy and I loved to read to him, so how could these books have passed me by?
Even more shocking is that in 2012 UK children voted The Diary of a Wimpy Kid the best children's book of the last ten years (can you believe it?) taking the top place over the legendary HARRY POTTER. Is this really true? I had to find out more about this geeky kid - and his wimpy character Greg.
This only goes to show that kids love them and it's a great way to get children reading. Is your child a 'reluctant reader'? Is your child a boy? (Reluctant reader is often shorthand for boy). One way to get them to engage in reading is to give them what they really want to read - and it seems that they really want to read about Greg. From here they'll go on to enjoy other books (Harry Potter?).
Jeff Kinney writes the stories but he also draws the wonderfully engaging and deceptively simply cartoons which illustrate the everyday frustrations and concerns of an average pre-teen kid aged 12. Jeff Kinney reckons this is the worst time in your life and goes on to document the many anxieties, trials and tribulations faced by Greg.
You'll love it, they'll love it - win win.
Greg Huffley versus Adrian Mole
Adrian Mole is the 'wimpy kid' that I was brought up with. We loved his self-obsessed diaries, his teenage angst and his precocious self-righteousness. If you like Greg - why not take a look at Adrian?
Jeff Kinney Reads His Diary of a Wimpy Kid
You can't beat listening to the author reading their own books to get the true voice of the character
Have You Read the Greg Huffley Books?
© 2013 Barbara Walton