Staff Picks Blog

Believe it or not, it’s not a bird…not a plane… it’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid! Hard to believe, but the amazingly popular series of funny chapter books for kids has hit the big time. I mean the REALLY BIG time. As in 60 feet long, 54 feet tall, and filled with loads of helium big time!

Yes, those of you who religiously watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade each year are already on the know. But those of us who sensibly prefer sleeping  in did manage to miss this year’s special debut of the new Wimpy Kid Greg Heffley parade balloon at the 84th Macy’s blow out (oops, a bad analogy when talking giant stories-high balloons.) Author Jeff Kinney and his family were in attendance as were thousands of faithful but cold New Yorkers. Not to mention millions of TV viewers snug at home. 12,000 kids had entered a contest to win a trip to the blown up (sorry!) Wimpy Kid debut, and a lucky 12 year old Rome Perrigrino from Nevada won.

So in honor of this latest Wimpy Kid achievement, here’s some suggested things to read, view, or listen to from this series of books that kids can’t wait to get their hands on. Luckily Iowa City Public Library has plenty of duplicate copies – so stock up and tickle all your family’s funny bones during the upcoming winter break!

Books: #1 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley’s Journal. #2 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules. #3 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: the Last Straw. #4 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days. #5 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: the Ugly Truth. Plus we have several in Spanish in the nonfiction foreign language section at j468.6. There is also a book about the making of the new movie called The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary: How Greg Heffley Went to Hollywood.

DVD: Diary of a Wimpy Kid can be found in the adult DVD and Express DVD collections as well as in the children’s DVD/Fiction collection.

Audio: All the chapter books listed above can also be found in the Children’s Books on Disc collection under Kinney.