Monday 1 October 2012

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney - Mr Thompson (Learning Support)

I remember a time not so long ago when I was seeing Diary of a Wimpy Kid books absolutely everywhere - in lessons, in the homework club… I remember walking into a lesson one time, and during silent reading, almost the entire class were reading a book from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. 

Wondering to myself what is so special about these books, I stood behind one of my students and peaked over his shoulder to glance at what he was reading. The well-drawn comic-like pictures caught my eye at first, followed by the desirable font the story is told in - it really made me want to read on. The concept of a story being told through notes in the form of a diary is brilliant and is different from your average book.

Greg Heffley (The Wimpy Kid), a lazy, selfish, witty yet creative young student, writes about his first year of high school on a day-to-day basis and often exaggerates how “bad” it is in his diary - I mean “journal”! Greg finds himself facing the challenges and dilemmas that every student at high school faces. However, Greg is never satisfied - his teachers are boring, his lessons more so, his classmates are ‘morons’ and his best friend is simply ‘not cool enough’. Trouble and sticky situations often find Greg, but don’t be fooled - Greg knows how to play the game, and certainly knows how to get into - and out of - any mischievous situations and avoid taking any blame for his actions. Afterall, it’s never his fault, right?

I was so disappointed when the ten minutes silent reading was up - I wanted to read on and on! But since then I have bought the book, finished reading about Greg’s interesting, wild, never-normal and often just plain ridiculous days at school, and I am looking forward to reading how his journey through high school progresses. This funny, adventurous and hard-to-put-down book is awesome and though I would recommend it to absolutely anyone, I would especially recommend it for students in Year 7 or Year 8, particularly if you think that “all books are boring!”

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