Diary of a Wimpy Kid facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Creator	Jeff Kinney
Original work	Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2007; preceded by online version on Funbrain in 2004)
Owner	Wimpy Kid, Inc. (IP holder) Abrams Books (publishing; under Amulet Books label) The Walt Disney Company (film rights; via 20th Century Studios)
Print publications
Books	Books list
Films and television
Films	Film series
Theatrical presentations
Musicals	Musical
Games
Video games	Video games
Official website
(US) (UK)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a super popular American book series and media franchise. It was created by author and cartoonist Jeff Kinney. The series is all about Greg Heffley, a middle school student. He writes and draws about his daily life in a diary (even though he calls it a journal!).

Jeff Kinney worked on the first book for eight years before showing it to a publisher. In 2004, a website called Funbrain and Kinney put out an online version of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. This website shared new entries every day from September 2004 to June 2005. By 2009, the online version had been seen almost 20 million times! Many readers really wanted a printed book.

In February 2006, at the New York Comic Con, Kinney signed a deal with Abrams Books. This deal was to turn Diary of a Wimpy Kid into a printed book series. The first book came out in April 2007 and was an instant hit. In April 2009, Time magazine even named Kinney one of the 100 most influential people.

The series has nineteen main books and an activity book. There's also a spin-off series about Greg's best friend, Rowley Jefferson, which has three books. 20th Century Studios made live-action movies based on the books from 2010 to 2017. Later, three animated movies came out in the early 2020s.

Since the online version first appeared, most of the books have gotten great reviews and sold tons of copies. By 2020, over 250 million copies had been sold worldwide. This makes it the fourth best-selling book series ever!

Books in the Series

This section lists the main books in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Each book shares more of Greg Heffley's funny and sometimes awkward adventures in middle school.

More Books and Spin-offs

Besides the main series, there are other fun books in the Wimpy Kid world.

Activity Books

• Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book is an activity book. It has blank pages for readers to start their own journals, just like Greg's.
  • The Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book is an updated version of the first one. It has 60 more pages and 16 new full-color comics.

Movie Diaries

• The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary tells you all about how the first movie was made. It includes pictures from the film and new drawings.
  • Updated versions of the movie diary were released. They included details about the second movie, Rodrick Rules, and the third movie, Dog Days.
• The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary: The Next Chapter focuses on how the movie The Long Haul was made.

Rowley Jefferson's Books

A spin-off series is written from Rowley Jefferson's point of view.

• Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid: Rowley Jefferson's Journal came out in 2019. It shares funny stories about Greg and Rowley's friendship.
• Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Adventure was released in 2020. It's a fantasy adventure story.
• Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories came out in 2021. It's a collection of spooky tales.

Audiobooks

You can also listen to audiobooks for each main Diary of a Wimpy Kid story. Different narrators read the books depending on where you get them.

Main Characters

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is full of memorable characters. Here are some of the most important ones:

• Greg Heffley is the main character and narrator. He's a middle school student who often tries to be popular.
• Rowley Jefferson is Greg's kind and loyal best friend.
• Rodrick Heffley is Greg's older brother. He's often rude and plays tricks on Greg. He's also the drummer in a band called Löded Diper.
• Manny Heffley is Greg's spoiled younger brother. He's known for telling on his brothers.
• Susan Heffley is Greg's mom. She sometimes embarrasses Greg with her ideas.
• Frank Heffley is Greg's dad. He often wants Greg to play sports and "become a man."
• Gramma is Greg's caring maternal grandmother.
• Grandpa is Greg's paternal grandfather. He sometimes annoys Greg.
• Fregley is Greg's quirky and unusual neighbor and classmate.
• Chirag Gupta is one of Greg's friends. Greg once played a trick on him, pretending Chirag was invisible.
• Holly Hills is a girl Greg has a crush on at school.
• Heather Hills is Holly's older sister. Both Greg and Rodrick used to have a crush on her.
• Patty Farrell is Greg's rival at school.
• Sweetie was the Heffleys' temporary dog. He annoyed Greg and later became overweight after living with Gramma.
• An unnamed pig was won by Manny at a fair. This smart pig could walk upright. In The Getaway, the pig escaped and hasn't been seen since.

Awards and Success

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series has won many awards and sold millions of copies around the world.

Awards and Honors

The books have been recognized for their popularity and appeal to young readers.

Commercial Success

The Wimpy Kid series has been a huge hit. The New York Times has listed the series on its bestseller list for over 600 weeks! USA Today also listed the books among its top sellers.

More than 200 million copies of the books have been sold. They are available in 56 languages and 65 different versions worldwide. The series has made over $500 million in revenue.

Media Adaptations

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid stories have been turned into video games, movies, and even a musical!

Video Games

• On March 14, 2011, Jeff Kinney released a video game called Wimpy Wonderland Island. It's part of his online game Poptropica. Players solve puzzles and go on quests.
• On July 3, 2012, Kinney released a second game called Wimpy Boardwalk Island.

Films

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books have inspired both live-action and animated movies.

Live-Action Movies

• The first film, based on the first book, came out on March 19, 2010. It starred Zachary Gordon as Greg and Robert Capron as Rowley.
• The second film, Rodrick Rules, was released on March 25, 2011. Zachary Gordon played Greg again.
• The third film, Dog Days, combined stories from the third and fourth books. It came out on August 3, 2012.
• A fourth live-action film, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, was released on May 19, 2017. It was based on the book of the same name.

Animated Movies

• On August 6, 2019, Disney announced they would make new animated Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies for their streaming service, Disney+.
• The first animated film, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, was released on Disney+ on December 3, 2021.
• A second animated movie, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, came out on Disney+ on December 2, 2022.
• A third animated film, Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever, was released on Disney+ on December 8, 2023.

Musical Adventures

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Musical was first performed in 2016 by the Children's Theatre Company. A new version of the show was staged in 2022. You can even find a studio album of songs from the musical, sung by Broadway performers.

Images for kids

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  A friendly robot for kids.

See also

In Spanish: El diario de Greg (serie) para niños