What started as a book on funbrain.com in the early 2000s has grown today into nothing short of a cultural icon. Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series took the kids book section by storm in 2007—and it never really slowed its roll. Diary of a Wimpy Kid has had an ongoing place on the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Publisher’s Weekly, and New York Times bestseller lists. The latest in the series, Diary of Wimpy Kid: Fight or Flight, arrives on Tuesday, October 20, courtesy of Amulet Books. To celebrate, the beloved Webster Groves bookstore the Novel Neighbor is bringing Kinney to town for an appearance at 6:00pm on Sunday, October 25, at the Keating Center for the Performing Arts (801 W. Essex Ave. in Kirkwood).
I was lucky enough to catch up with Kinney this week ahead of his stop in St. Louis. I work with kids, so some of my questions were sent in from the class I teach. Most of those will be at the end, but one of my older ones asked the meat and potatoes question: “How did you get the idea for the books?”
“I drew from my experiences as a kid,” Kinney explained. “Growing up in Fort Washington, Maryland, I had a lot of funny things happen to me and I wrote them all down in my 20s and turned that into the raw materials for Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” Kinney said he started keeping lots of journals in his 20s and the format he used is what gave him the idea for the beloved half-written/half-drawn format all the books follow.
This has led to one of the most popular and maybe surprising praises of this book: its accessibility for readers. Diary of a Wimpy Kid was one of the first big series that a whole class of kids across different reading levels could read and all enjoy. I asked Kinney if that was a goal for him. “That is something that I learned: that it’s tough for kids to go from these lush picture books with big colorful pictures or big colorful images to chapter books with no images,” Kinney said. “It’s nice to have something in-between. I think of my books as kind of a bridge to more advanced reading. But I think kids like images. I try to space them out to draw the readers through a story.”
I asked Kinney about his early life—did he always like to draw and write or did this all really start with those journal entries? “I never really thought of myself as a writer.” Kinney said. “You know, I liked doing cartoons, liked writing gags, but I had never really tried to write a story. When I started writing Diary of a Wimpy Kid, I started trying to learn to tell a story. It was rough going at first, but now I think I’ve got the hang of it.” I would certainly agree with that—Kinney is now the author of 31 books across his main series and spin-offs. Kinney’s style of writing really reimagined what we thought books should look like.
I asked if there’s anything he thinks kids should learn from any of his books. “My books aren’t really full of lessons. They’re written as entertainment for entertainment’s sake, so I try not to be too heavy-handed,” he answered. “I hope my books teach kids that reading is fun and rewarding. I hope it keeps them reaching for another book.” I think that’s what makes the books so special. Before, young readers were always expected to learn something or find a deep meaning in books. They didn’t know reading could be this funny with the only intent being enjoyment and entertainment. For a lot of kids, it took the pressure off and gave them a chance to just enjoy reading. In a time where literacy rates are struggling, this is important work to give kids a love for reading instead of a tolerance.
Kinney’s work isn’t just popular with kids; adults have gotten into the novels too. They’re praised for being laugh-out-loud funny and easy to read; I’ve seen them compared to The Simpsons in terms of cleverness and humor. It wasn’t a bad comparison apparently: The Simpsons’ latest episode is called “Diary of a Chimpy Kid.” I asked Kinney about his books being referenced in the show. Laughing, he said “It’s pretty strange. In the episode the week before, they have Homer hitting his head and going into a world of children’s books and a character that looks a lot like one of mine is in the background. So, it’s cool to be included in that world.” I raised my voice to an almost unacceptable level. “Jeff!” I exclaimed, “you’re a cultural reference!”
Jeff and I wrapped up with some questions from some of the younger kids:
Q: How do you draw so good?
“Thank you very much! [laughs] You know, I don’t think I’m the best artist, so it’s taken me a while to evolve this style. I practiced for about a year before I felt like I was ready to start drawing professionally, so it took practice.”
Q: How did you come up with Greg’s name? How do you name your characters?
“Heffley was a name that just sounded a little bit wimpy, and Greg was a name my mom almost named all three of her boys. Most of the time, I name my characters after a sound: Rowley has kind of a friendly sound, Rodrick is kind of a harder sound that sounds a little bit rock n’ roll.”
Q: What are your favorite books?
“My favorites? When I was a kid, I really liked books by Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary. These days, I mostly read political memoirs and things like that, so I don’t read a lot of fiction.”
I reckon reading non-fiction after writing 31 kids fiction books must feel like a bit of an escape.
And finally, from our youngest in the group who desperately wanted to be included:
Do you like KPop Demon Hunters?
I can’t finish the question without laughing and Jeff joins me. “I haven’t seen the movie, but I do like the song ‘Golden’.”
You can catch up with Jeff Kinney next Sunday, October 25th, at the Keating Center for the Performing Arts for his Fight or Flight tour. (The appearance is currently sold-out, but you can join the waitlist here.) Contrary to most book tours, Jeff will host an interactive stage show featuring members of the audience as they go head-to-head on some hilarious challenges. It is fun the whole family can enjoy-and who knows, you may end up the star! | Pariss Brown
For the latest on Kinney’s books and public appearances, visit wimpykid.com.
