Review: The Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

[stoppoppingtheP]

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a series of satirical stories about the journey through life and middle school by a kid who is, well, wimpy.

Greg Heffley makes this journey along with his ‘best friend’ Rowley, although the relationship between them is somewhat complicated and it sometimes seems as though he is only friends in order to milk the benefits that Rowley’s rich parents have to offer. Rowley is portrayed as a loyal but simple-minded/immature kid, who Greg always fools into following in his often troublesome plans.

Greg is the middle kid in his family, with a rebellious older brother, Rodrick, who persists in tormenting him; and a younger brother, Manny, who always gets his way, often slighting Greg in order to do it. His mother seems to go out of her way to embarrass him, and his dad always seems fed up with life and constantly gets irked to see Greg keep up such a lazy lifestyle. Greg is the type of kid who always looks for the easiest and laziest solutions to all the problems (or work) that is shoved his way.

The book is written in a journalistic style, with Greg continuously complaining about his troubles in life and how he feels that he is made for better things, even if other people might not necessarily agree with him. What makes this story unique is the simplistic yet captivatingly humorous style of writing, in addition to the comics of Greg and his family that are dispersed throughout the book.

The wimpy kid is a series of eight books, although I think that the series is still continuing, and each is as funny as the next. Although this book is geared towards younger, middle school readers, older people may also find these books quite entertaining. This is a must read if you have a funny bone in your body. If I had to rate it out of four stars, it would definitely get four out of four.

Although a movie has been made based on the book, I did not see it, and I do not think it is worth going to see, as the image of Greg and all the characters, and their nuances are perfectly captured in the simple comics in the book, and I think that a real life movie character would not be able to capture the emotions as perfectly as the comics.

[Storygamer88]

This series became so much more popular than I anticipated for something of its reading level, storytelling and calibur. I find the protagonist annoyingly idiotic, and I dont feel there are any lasting principles. Some of the humor fails IMO, and its overt or predictable. Overall, I was disappointed given its hype and movies from the 6 or so books I read.

[Atabon Della]

Well, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" sounds like a nice book but I got to watch a few parts of the movie and didn't quite enjoy it so I don't see why I should read the book. Thanks for the review by the way.

[Ssinghal]

I was not a very big fan of Wimpy Kid since I only read the first book, and did not find it to be very interesting. However, after seeing the positive reviews given to this book series, I feel I should try reading the other books in the series, and who knows, maybe I will find them interesting this time. Thanks <3

[sophiemer642]

This series is hilarious and entertaining. Teens and children can also easily relate to Greg, the main character.

[Sav Sparkman]

I was not a big fan of reading comic style books as a kid, and am still not much of a fan now, but I really enjoyed reading this series when I was younger! A lot of the family dynamics were relatable and I found it very funny. As an adult, I’m not as interested in reading them, but I definitely understand why the series is still so popular. It’s relatable for kids. And since my dad read them with me, we were able to have some good discussions about the decisions Greg made. As for the movie, I also really enjoyed it and I feel like it captured the same quirkiness of the first book, even if it was a little different. I would recommend it especially for younger audiences or people who want to read with their kids.