Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Trials and Tribulations of Tweens

• What: Diary of a Wimpy Kid books
• When: 7 to 12 years
• Why: Entertaining, funny, relatable
• Where: Amazon or Wimpy Kid

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinley features Greg Heffley, a middle school student who wants more from his mundane life. Whether he tries to gain popularity at school or to outwit his family members, his ideas may not end up like his plans. Young readers can easily identify with his desire to belong and attempts to solve problems.

Written in the style of a journal complete with black and white figure drawings and handwriting font, the series currently contains 14 titles to keep kids entertained with the trials and tribulations of life through a kid’s eyes. You can buy them one at a time, or get a set of 12 books. These books go lighter on text than some other chapter books for older kids, making them a great transition from graphic novels and shorter chapters and large text to books with minimal illustrations. They also work great for kids to read non-standard typefaces and fonts, like handwritten letters from relatives and friends.

We recently scored a batch of seven additional titles from Diary of a Wimpy Kid thanks to some neighbors cleaning out (and having nowhere to take their castoffs). My kids have shared our one copy of the original Diary of a Wimpy Kid back and forth, so they love having more copies to read and share. My son read three of these books in one day in his excitement, and happily re-reads them as well.