Diary of a Wimpy Kid (series)
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The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is a series of comedy realistic fiction graphic novels, written by American cartoonist and online game designer Jeff Kinney. They follow through the illustrations of Greg Heffley, a male student in middle-school explaining his everyday adventures through his drawings and simple notes. It first started as Igdoof in the early 1990s and after its failure, he made up of which was a comic about a middle school weakling called Greg Heffley. Jeff Kinney started writing ideas and eventually made a online fiction novel, uploaded to funbrain.com in 2004-2005, where it got 20 million views and was later made into a book series, then later were made into film adaptions.
The books are published by Abrams Books and Amluet Books in the United States and Penguin Books and Puffin Books in the United Kingdom. They are released in hardback, paperback, and digital formats each.
Development
After Jeff Kinney was unsuccessful in syndicating his comic strip, Igdoof, he started writing down his ideas for about 6 years (from 1998-2004), which eventually became Diary of a Wimpy Kid. The series are believed to be based on a family that Jeff Kinney know personally, and virtually all the characters are based off people in reality, who are replaced by fictional names to protect their identity.
Greg Heffley was made in 1998 as a middle school weakling, and Jeff Kinney started making stories about Greg in a cheap writing-pad from 1998-2004, and when a single joke was made, Jeff Kinney stuck it together with others. This resulted in a big 1,300+ pages book, which was cut to about 600 pages when Kinney uploaded it on funbrain.com in 2004. It then achieved over 25 million views, and soon after the success of the web book, he converted the series into published books.
Books
Main series
| Cover | # | Title | Plot | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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1 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid | Greg tries to become popular in school and introduces his family, his friends, and the Cheese Touch. | April 1, 2007 |
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2 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules | Greg must prevent Rodrick from telling about an embarrassing incident. | February 1, 2008 |
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3 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw | When Greg's father plans to send him to military school, Greg takes up sports and joins the Boy Scouts to make him reconsider. | January 13, 2009 |
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4 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days | Over summer vacation, Greg is annoyed by his mother's attempts to make it the "best summer ever." | October 12, 2009 |
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5 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth | As Greg grows up, he struggles with changes such as having a different dentist and getting The Talk. | November 9, 2010 |
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6 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever | Greg fears that he will be sent to jail for accidentally vandalizing the school, while a snowstorm traps him in his house. | November 15, 2011 |
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7 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel | Greg tries to find a date for the Valentine's Day Dance. | November 13, 2012 |
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8 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck | Unhappy with his decisions, Greg finds a Magic 8 Ball and uses it to make choices for him. | November 5, 2013 |
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9 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul | Greg and his family go on a road trip. | November 4, 2014 |
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10 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School | Greg's mother passes a petition to prevent use of electronics for a weekend. Greg later goes on a school field trip to a farm. | November 3, 2015 |
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11 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down | Greg's mother wants him to do creative activities, so he joins the school's band and films a movie with Rowley. | November 1, 2016 |
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12 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Getaway | Greg and his family board a plane and fly to a resort for Christmas vacation. | November 7, 2017 |
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13 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown | Greg and Rowley participate in a street-wide snowball fight. | October 30, 2018 |
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14 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball | Greg's family renovate their home after receiving an inheritance. | November 5, 2019 |
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15 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Deep End | Greg's family take a road trip to an RV park. | October 27, 2020 |
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16 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Big Shot | Greg joins a basketball team. | |
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Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Diper Överlöde | Greg joins Rodrick's Band Löded Diper to compete in the Battle Of The Bands. | October 25, 2022 |
Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid
| Cover | Title | Description | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|
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Diary of Greg Heffley's Best Friend | A shortened version of Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid: Rowley Jefferson's Journal, containing the first half of the book. | February 28, 2019 |
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Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid: Rowley Jefferson's Journal | As Greg's biography, Rowley writes about his experiences with Greg. | April 9, 2019 |
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Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories | An anthology of scary stories by Rowley. | March 16, 2021 |
Other
| Cover | Title | Description | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|
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Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Do-It-Yourself Book | An activity book containing original illustrations. | October 1, 2008 |
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The Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book | An expanded version of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Do-It-Yourself Book, containing more full-color comics and extra activities. | May 10, 2011 |
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The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary | A book about the creation and development of the first three Diary of a Wimpy Kid films. This book was re-released and expanded after the premiere of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, and again after Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days | March 19, 2010 March 25, 2011 August 3, 2012 |
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The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary: The Next Chapter | A book detailing the development of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul. It is a follow-up to the original The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary. | May 9, 2017 |
Reception
The New York Times, which ranks children's book series collectively on a "Series Books" bestseller list, has included the Wimpy Kid series for 64 weeks as of April 10, 2010. USA Today, which ranks best sellers based on sales alone regardless of genre or intended audience, has listed Diary of a Wimpy Kid in its top 150, peaking at number 8, for 141 weeks as of April 4, 2010. As of the same date, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules has been on the list for 117 weeks (peaking at number 4), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw has been on the list for 65 weeks (peaking at number 1), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days has been on the list for all 25 weeks of its publication (peaking at number 1), and The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary has been listed for all three weeks of its publication, peaking at number 2. As of May 2010, more than 200 million Wimpy Kid books are sold worldwide., and the books have been sold in more than 30 countries in the world. As of 2014, Jeff Kinney has made 25 million dollars from the series.
Film adaptations
- In March 2010, Fox Film 2000 released a movie named Diary of a Wimpy Kid, based on the first book. The film garnered mixed reviews, and is rated 55% on Rotten Tomatoes.
- In 2011, a second movie named Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules hit theaters. 47% of critics gave the film a positive review, according to the aforementioned Rotten Tomatoes.
- In 2012, a third movie named Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days was released. It got 51% on Rotten Tomatoes, unlike the first two films. Dog Days combined the third and fourth books (The Last Straw and Dog Days).
- In 2017, a fourth movie named Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul was released. It got 20% on Rotten Tomatoes which received negative reviews because of the new casting changes. This film combined the ninth and tenth books (The Long Haul and Old School).
- In 2021, an animated Diary of a Wimpy Kid film was made for Disney+ with 73% on Rotten Tomatoes.
- In 2022, another animated film was also made for Disney+.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | グレッグのダメ日記 Gureggu no dame nikki |
Greg's Useless Diary |
| Spanish | Diario de Greg | Greg's Diary |
| French | Journal d'un dégonflé (stylized as " |
Diary of a Courageous Kid |
| Dutch | Het leven van een loser | The Life of a Loser |
| German | Gregs Tagebuch | Greg's Diary |
| Italian | Diario di una schiappa | Diary of a Wimpy Kid |
| Danish | Ikke en dagbog | Not a Diary |
| Portuguese | "Diaro De Um Banana" (American) "O Diaro De Um Banana" (European) |
Diary Of A Banana The Diary of a Banana |
| Romanian | Jurnalul unui puști | Diary of a Kid |
| Polish | Dziennik Cwaniaczka | Diary of a Wimpy Kid |
| Welsh | Dyddiadur Dripsyn | Dripsyn's Diary |
| Bulgarian | Дневникът на един дръндьо Dnevnikŭt na edin drŭnd’o |
The Diary of a Thug |
| Afrikaans | Dagboek van 'n Wimpy Kid | Diary of a Wimpy Kid |
| Latvian | Grega dienasgrāmata | Greg's Diary |