Book Review for Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Jeff Kinney, who began publishing his Greg Heffley cartoons in 2004 on funbrain.com as a way to keep kids interested in the site after school was out for the summer, was able to bring in multiple audiences when he published his cartoons in a novel, although He never intended to publish the cartoons online. Greg is in middle school and has many of the same issues that many face or did face in middle school.

The first page in the book is dated September 7. It states:

First of all, I want to get something straight: this is a Journal,
not a diary. I know what is says on the cover but when Mom went
out to buy this thing I SPECIFICALLY said to make sure it didn't
say "diary" on it. So don't expect me to be all: dear diary this"
and "dear diary that".

This book is hilarious and would be great for reluctant readers. The story follows Greg through a difficult year in his life. He does not always make the right decision, but as readers will see, he learns the hard way what he should have done. Parents will like that Greg's parents are involved in his life. His father monitors his video games and his mother suggests the journal for Greg to express his feelings.

This book was a New York Time's Best Seller for a reason. It is great for kids and adults. It is also a great book for boys, but girls will enjoy it, too. Jeff Kinney has also published 2 sequels to the first book called, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules and The Last Straw, as well as a Do0-it-yourself version to help kids write their own journals.

Kinney is the design director of an Internet publishing company. He creates games and activities for the website funbrain.com. Kinney new that he wanted to be a cartoonist after college. His first attempt at a comic strip was while he was in college at the University of Maryland in the early 1990's. He ran a comic called Igdoof in the college newspaper, but was no able to get is published after college. He now lives in Massachusetts with his wife and two sons.

View this review at amazon.com