Why I Love Wimpy Kid and Jeff Kinney

Zachary Gorden as Greg Heffley in Diary of a Wimpy Kid

I recently had the opportunity to see a press screening of the movie, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” with my two youngest kids, Caleb and Joel, as well as  interview Wimpy Kid creator Jeff Kinney.

I am sworn to silence about the movie. No spoilers will spill out of my mouth. But let me just say I can’t wait to see the movie again. And when Book Five of the series comes out? I’ll be there in line, with all the other kids, ready to get our copy fresh off the press.

If you’ve read any of Jeff Kinney’s “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” books, you know what I mean when I say these are laugh out loud books.  A big  reason is that Jeff originally didn’t intend them to be for kids. He was trying to appeal to adults, to tap into ‘the stuff you just can’t make up” real-life humor of our collective pre-pubescent experiences.  So even Jeff is surprised that the books–a collection of diary entries with punch-line comic drawings–ultimately ended up as children’s books.

But they did, and then ran, not walked, to the top of the New York Times bestseller list for children’s books.  Kids love the series. But teens do too, as well as grown-ups like me. Why? Because what happens in the Hefley family is what happens in the Reske family, or perhaps what happens in your family. And it’s the genius of any comedian or writer of humor to tap into the collective comedy of life we all experience.

I love the Wimpy Kid book series and movie because they make me and my kids laugh.  And I love Jeff Kinney because he works hard to create stories that are funny, but family-friendly, not filthy.  As a parent, I appreciate his commitment to keep his content relatively innocuous and innocent.

Keep posted for the published interview with Jeff and everything wimpy in April’s baystateparent magazine.

In the meantime, don’t touch the cheese! And don’t eat the school snacks – they’re for school!