Diary of a Wimpy Kid Wiki

i have to put something here right?

READ MORE

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Franchise
Diary of a Wimpy Kid series
The official logo for the series.

Author

Jeff Kinney

Country

United States

Language

English, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, German, Thai, Russian, Turkish, French, Vietnamese and many more

Genre

Realistic Fiction, Satire

Publisher

Abrams Books in US, and Puffin Books in UK. Thorndike Publications (GALE) for the large print edition.

Original Run

April 1, 2007-present

Media Type

Print (paperback and hardback) and Digital

Number of books in series (So far)

18 (Released)

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid Franchise, also called Wimpy Kid or DOAWK for short is a series of comedy novels, games, websites, and films, written by American cartoonist and online game (Poptropica) designer Jeff Kinney. They follow through the diary 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 in 2003-2006, where it got 20 million views and was later made into a book series, then later were made into film adaptations.

Background

After facing initial disappointment in his attempt to syndicate his comic strip, "lgdoof," Jeff Kinney shifted gears and began jotting down his ideas for a new project. Over a span of six years, from 1998 to 2004, these ideas gradually evolved into what we now know as "Diary of a Wimpy Kid."

Drawing inspiration from his personal experiences and people he knew, Jeff Kinney crafted the series around a family, with virtually all characters based on real individuals. To safeguard their identities, he cleverly replaced their names with fictional ones.

The protagonist of this engaging tale, Greg Heffley, was conceptualized back in 1998 as a middle school weakling. Kinney dedicated himself to weaving stories about Greg's escapades, documenting them in a humble writing pad. During this creative process, whenever a humorous idea struck, he cleverly interconnected it with others, gradually forming a massive 1,300+ pages book.

In 2004, Kinney decided to share his work with the world and uploaded the book on FunBrain. However, to make it more accessible to online readers, he trimmed it down to approximately 600 pages. The web book garnered an overwhelming response, amassing over 25 million views. The resounding success of this online venture encouraged him to take the series further and transform it into published books.

With this decision, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" was born, captivating readers young and old alike, and embarking on a remarkable journey that has since become a cherished part of contemporary literature. Jeff Kinney's persistence and creativity culminated in a literary sensation that continues to bring joy to millions of readers around the world.

Books in the series

As of 2024, there are eighteen books in the series (with a 19th book being released soon), each having a different color, a photo cover and plot.

  • Book 1: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, released in 2007, talks about Greg and his various attempts to get popular at school, and the infamous Cheese Touch. This book revolves around Greg's best friend, Rowley. (Red)
  • Book 2: Rodrick Rules, released in 2008, is about Greg and his relationship with his brother's tyrannical behavior, and the traumatic event that Greg experienced during the summer. This book revolves around Greg's older brother, Rodrick. (Blue)
  • Book 3: The Last Straw, released in early 2009, is about Greg and his relationship with his father and how he tries to impress Holly Hills. This book revolves around Greg's father, Frank. (Green)
  • Book 4: Dog Days, released in late 2009, is about Greg's worst summer ever. This book revolves around Greg's mother, Susan. (Yellow)
  • Book 5: The Ugly Truth, released in 2010, is about Rowley ditching Greg, with the latter learning about puberty. This book revolves around Greg's great-grandmother, Gammie. (Purple)
  • Book 6: Cabin Fever, released in 2011, is about a blizzard that keeps Greg and his family (besides Frank) inside. This book revolves around Greg's younger brother, Manny. (Light Blue)
  • Book 7: The Third Wheel, released in 2012, is about Greg's relationship with girls and the Valentine’s dance. This book revolves around Greg's Uncle Gary. (Brown)
  • Book 8: Hard Luck, released in 2013, is about the Greg’s disappointment with Rowley dating a girl, and the Magic 8-Ball. This book revolves around Rowley’s girlfriend, Abigail Brown. (Lime Green)
  • Book 9: The Long Haul, released in 2014, is about when the Heffley family go on a road trip, but things don't go to well for them. This book revolves around a man nicknamed Mr. Beardo, the father of the Beardo family. (Orange)
  • Book 10: Old School, released in 2015, is about Greg's town voluntarily unplugging and going electronics-free. This book revolves around a creepy man in the forest named Silas Scratch. (Black)
  • Book 11: Double Down, released in 2016, is about Greg expressing his creativity. This book revolves around a kid named Maddox Selsam. (Red with yellow stripes)
  • Book 12: The Getaway, released in 2017, involves the Heffley family on a Christmas trip to escape the cold weather, but a lot of things go wrong. This book revolves around the Director of Fun. (Blue with green stripes)
  • Book 13: The Meltdown, released in 2018, is about Greg's school being shut down because of a snow storm and his neighborhood turning into a battleground with snow forts, alliances, betrayals, and "epic snow fights."[1] This book revolves around Greg's neighborhood. (Dark Purple Gradient)
  • Book 14: Wrecking Ball, released in 2019, is about the Heffleys making home improvements, with a whole lot of trouble in for them. This book revolves around a nightmare that Greg had, The Grout. (Gray and Orange)
  • Book 15: The Deep End, released in 2020, is about the family going on a cross-country camping trip during the summer and getting stuck in an RV park. This book revolves around a kid named Juicebox. (Blue and Light Blue)
  • Book 16: Big Shot, released in 2021, is about Greg signing up for basketball after his mother asked. This book revolves around Dhruv Patel. (White, Blue and Yellowish Orange)
  • Book 17: Diper Överlöde, released in 2022, is about Greg tagging along with his brother Rodrick’s band, Löded Diper. This book revolves around Bill Walter. (Black, Grey and Gold)
  • Book 18: No Brainer, released in 2023, is about Greg's school falling apart. It revolves around Principal Bottoms. (Mint Green and Yellow)
  • Book 19: Hot Mess, where the two halves of Greg’s extended family come together in the summer. The book releases October 22nd, 2024. (Red and White Plaid Tablecloth)
  • Book 20: No information has been revealed on the book yet.

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 53% 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.

Trivia

  • The series was originally supposed to be for adult readers, but that changed when a publisher saw it after Jeff Kinney changed the cover.
  • On July 1, 2020, Jeff Kinney stated in a Twitter tweet that Greg will not age, meaning that the series might be on a floating timeline, especially considering that other characters do not seem to age either.
    • However, the series does have continuity and characters do die irreversibly in the series, even though they do not seem to age while they are alive.
  • In the first teaser trailer of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, the location of the movie was possibly revealed in Indiana, Ohio, or West Virginia. When Greg and Rowley look at the map, they say that Indianapolis is only 2 inches away. Also, it shows a map of Indiana. In the car, the GPS says the car is on Blue Ridge Parkway. A similar shaped road also named Blue Ridge Parkway is in West Virginia. There is also an Ohio license plate on the van.
  • The first three films were shot in Vancouver, Canada.
  • The character appearing with Greg on the title page for each book is usually the main antagonist.
  • The Long Haul and Wrecking Ball are the only two books with Jeff Kinney's name in the lower right corner instead of the centre.
  • In the first three live action films, Greg is portrayed by Zachary Gordon, in The Long Haul he is portrayed by Jason Drucker, and in the animated films he is voiced by Brady Noon, except in Cabin Fever, instead being voiced by Wesley Kimmel.
  • Every book in the main series and the two movie diaries have exactly 217 reading pages, like it always is.
  • The books were originally going to be for adult readers, but after a publisher saw it Jeff Kinney changed the cover.
  • Since the release of the first book back in 2007, at least one book in the series has been released every single year, with 2009 currently being the only year to have released more than one book (the third and fourth books specifically).
    • Starting with the fourth book, the books within the DoaWK-series have been released in the fall, with three of those books being released in October and the rest being released in November -- the fourth, thirteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth books are and were released/releasing in October while the fifth thru twelfth and fourteenth books are all released in November.
    • The first book in the series in April of 2007, the second was released in February of 2008 and the third was released in January of 2009 (the fourth was released in October of that same year).

The Book\Movie Covers

Advertisement