SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • *Best New Books*
    • Annual Best Lists
  • Reviews
    • One Star Review
    • Nonfiction
    • Toon Reviews
  • Articles
    • Authors
    • Link Du Jour
  • Covers
    • Covering the Newbery
    • Cover Curiosity
    • Unfortunate Covers
  • News
    • Books on Film
    • Morning Notes
  • Newsletter

January 13, 2009 by Travis Jonker

Happy ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ Day!

January 13, 2009 by Travis Jonker   6 comments

whimpypanel-pola

So how will you be spending your day off? Wait, what’s that? Diary of a Wimpy Kid Day isn’t a national holiday? I see. Well, if you’re an elementary school librarian like me, you might feel that it should be. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw hits shelves today, and just about every kid I know from grades 3 and up is eager for the next installment.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

While I’m busy trying to get my hands on as many copies as possible (did I mention that I work at four elementary schools?) Here are some links to help you celebrate.

The New York Times did a very nice piece on the book and author Jeff Kinney. Click the image below to read:

wimpynyt

USA Today got in on the action with this article. Be sure to check out the accompanying photo of Jeff Kinney’s idea journal – it takes the term “notes” to a whole new, and microscopic, level:

usatodaywimpy

Finally, many thanks to the wonderful children’s lit blog A Fuse #8 Production for the following video of how The Last Straw was produced. If you had childhood visions of one day starting your own cable network called the “How It’s Made Network” (or maybe that’s just me), then you will enjoy this:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQCDmjjN1Xg]

Filed under: Articles

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Travis Jonker

Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

January 2023

Who's Published the Most Newbery Winners in the Last 25 Years?

by Travis Jonker

January 2023

2023 Caldecott Medal Predictions

by Travis Jonker

January 2023

The Ten Most Eye-Opening Caldecott Books of All Time

by Travis Jonker

January 2023

Enter the World of Incredibly Specific Children's Literature Instagram Accounts

by Travis Jonker

December 2022

Top 10 Posts of 2022: #1

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

Who’s Published the Most Newbery Winners in the Last 25 Years?

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

That Flag: An Interview with Tameka Fryer Brown

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Monkey Prince Vol. 1: Enter the Monkey | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

Heavy Medal

Who Will Win? 2023 Newbery Predictions

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

The Value of Innocence for BIPOC Students, a guest post by David Mura

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Looking Ahead: Our 2023 Preview

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

ChatGPT Does Readers’ Advisory | Top Stories on SLJ

Remember: 10 Titles to Read for Holocaust Remembrance Day

The Roads Taken: Kids’ love of things that go puts transportation books front and center | Great Books

6 Chapter Books Series Updates for Transitioning Readers

6 Middle Grade & YA Novels on Repeat for Groundhog Day

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Deanna H says

    January 13, 2009 at 4:52 pm

    I have been waiting for this book to come out. I hope it’s as funny as number one and two. Thanks for all the info.

  2. phantommidge says

    January 15, 2009 at 12:25 am

    Can you believe that there are some children’s librarians who don’t like this series? I know! What gives!?

    A few months ago we had a local elementary school visit our library and I had a surreal moment: There was a long line of kids at the reference desk and one after another requested Jeff Kinney’s books.

    All of our available copies were snapped up quickly, so I said to the rest of kids in line, “All of the copies of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Rodrick Rules at THIS library are checked out, but I can order a copy from another branch for you?” (Of course, they never want it if it isn’t here NOW).

    Then, the next kid in line steps up and says, “So…do you have any copies of Diary of a Wimpy Kid here?”
    ::me banging head on desk::
    😉

    • chloe says

      March 1, 2010 at 5:48 pm

      dude ther are funny i love them books and i like the story you told, that is funny

  3. Aaron Mead says

    February 27, 2010 at 1:22 pm

    While I agree that these books are funny, I’m actually pretty worried about them as something that shapes the character of children. The central problem is that Kinney has us laughing at—and so wanting more of, and implicitly approving of—the mean things Heffley says and does, and his self-serving attitudes. The question is, should tweens—whose moral character is in relatively early stages of formation—be laughing at these things? My worry here is that the book just reinforces, and subtly leads us to approve of, a certain self-centered negativity that ought to be purged of pre-teens, not anchored all the more deeply via repeated and pleasurable reinforcement.

    Okay, okay, I hear the objections already: “Isn’t this just puritanical paranoia? What’s wrong with a little frivolous fun? Couldn’t the book just be like junk food, i.e., okay once in while but not as one’s steady diet?” Reply: there is nothing wrong with frivolous fun. The problem is, reading books like this isn’t frivolous fun. Think of it this way: as a parent, would you like your son to be best friends with Greg Heffley? My answer is clearly, “No.” Why? Because our friends influence who we become, the choices we make, the attitudes we take—in short, our character—and I do not want my kids to have Heffley’s character. And I don’t think it is a reach to say that the characters in books we enjoy become our friends for a season—and perhaps for a long and influential season if the book is one in a series. (Hence the disanalogy with junk food: if you buy this book for your kids, they will “eat” it all the time.) Indeed, I know people who have become more emotionally attached to fictional characters than they are to the real people in their lives. So, while it is funny, I think we also need to consider whether it is good for children.

    Final objection: “This book can help non-readers—particularly boys—to become readers.” While I agree that non-readers may well read Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the question is, what exactly does that accomplish? I’m skeptical that such a book is going to help any child graduate to literature that is actually worth reading. By my lights, this book is no better than a funny but corrosive TV show in that respect (though it is considerably more creative than most TV shows). If we want to help non-readers to become readers—an extremely worthwhile goal—we need to do better than Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

  4. tanie t?umaczenia katowice says

    December 30, 2015 at 8:14 am

    rzetelne tanie t?umaczenia angielskiego katowice najlepsze

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

  • Author/Illustrator Blogs

    • Erin Stead Illustration
    • Hey, Rabbit!
    • James Preller's Blog
    • MATTHEWCORDELLBLOGS
    • Mo Willems Doodles
    • The Scop
  • Book Blogs I Like

    • A Book and a Hug
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • A Kids Book a Day
    • A Year of Reading
    • Abby (the) Librarian
    • Awful Library Books
    • Becky’s Book Reviews
    • Better Book Titles
    • Book-A-Day Almanac
    • Bookends
    • books4yourkids.com
    • bookshelves of doom
    • Bottom Shelf Books
    • Calling Caldecott
    • Caustic Cover Critic
    • Chad C. Beckerman
    • Charlotte’s Library
    • Cheryl Rainfield
    • Chicken Spaghetti
    • CHILDREN’S ILLUSTRATION
    • Collecting Children’s Books
    • Cybils
    • EarlyWord
    • educating alice
    • Finding Wonderland
    • For Those About to Mock
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Good Show Sir
    • GottaBook
    • Great Kid Books
    • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
    • Hi Miss Julie!
    • Jen Robinson’s Book Page
    • Kidsmomo
    • Maria T. Middleton Design
    • Nerdy Book Club
    • Neverending Search
    • Nine Kinds of Pie
    • One Book, Two Books, Old Books, New Books
    • Out of the Box
    • Oz and Ends
    • PlanetEsme
    • Read Roger
    • Reading Rants!
    • Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
    • sharpread
    • ShelfTalker
    • so tomorrow
    • The Children's Book Review
    • The Miss Rumphius Effect
    • Uncovered Cover Art
    • Waking Brain Cells
    • Watch. Connect. Read.
  • Library Blogs

    • ALSC Blog
    • Blue Skunk Blog
    • librarian.net
    • LISNews
    • Stephen's Lighthouse
    • Tame The Web: Libraries and Technology
    • Tame The Web: Libraries and Technology
    • Unshelved
  • Follow This Blog

    Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    Primary Sidebar

    • News & Features
    • Reviews+
    • Technology
    • School Libraries
    • Public Libraries
    • Age Level
    • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Classroom
    • Diversity
    • People
    • Job Zone

    Reviews+

    • Book Lists
    • Best Books
    • Media
    • Reference
    • Series Made Simple
    • Tech
    • Review for SLJ
    • Review Submissions

    SLJ Blog Network

    • 100 Scope Notes
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Heavy Medal
    • Neverending Search
    • Teen Librarian Toolbox
    • The Classroom Bookshelf
    • The Yarn

    Resources

    • 2022 Youth Media Awards
    • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
    • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
    • Summer Reading 2021
    • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
    • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
    • Summer Programming Survey
    • Research
    • White Papers / Case Studies
    • School Librarian of the Year
    • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
    • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

    Events & PD

    • In-Person Events
    • Online Courses
    • Virtual Events
    • Webcasts
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Media Inquiries
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Content Submissions
    • Data Privacy
    • Terms of Use
    • Terms of Sale
    • FAQs
    • Diversity Policy
    • Careers at MSI


    COPYRIGHT © 2023


    COPYRIGHT © 2023