Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid children's book series, bills himself as a "G-rated guy" from Plainville. However, I call him (along with Captain Underpants creator Dav Pilkey) the author who finally convinced my reluctant reader that books could be fun–and I'm not the only one making that claim. At a recent Manhattan interview that I participated in, Kinney took questions and comments from a number of bloggers who echoed my sentiments.
"I am an English Language Arts teacher in New York City and I have children that have been mainstreamed and have IEPs, that are struggling readers. There are so many aspects of your books that are appealing to children that are at risk and struggling readers. You have the visual aids which make them feel successful when they read your books," one invited blogger crowed.
"You may have saved my son's whole educational career," a second blogger concurred.
One of the keys to the Wimpy Kid series' success is its liberal use of cartoons throughout to depict the imminently-relatable misadventures of middle school everyman Greg Hefley and his charming-though-naive best friend Rowley. These images do more than simply break up what might otherwise be perceived by young chapter-book readers as a daunting page of text, they make kids laugh–and in my experience, if you have kids laughing, you're well on your way to winning the put down the video game controller and do some reading battle.
Ironically, Kinney initially hoped to become a newspaper cartoonist and actually expected his books to end up in the adult humor section, not the reluctant readers go-to list or the New York Times' children's chapter book list. He told our group:
However surprising Kinney may have once found success, he has capitalized ably on the popularity of his books, moving quickly from print to screen. The third installment in the family-friendly Wimpy Kid film franchise is being released on August 3 and prior to our group's author interview, my 13-year-old son and I had the opportunity to preview this latest addition to the oeuvre, Diary of Wimpy Kid: Dog Days.
To be clear: no new thematic ground is broken in Dog Days. The movie is yet another episodic series of gentle misadventures: Greg struggling to fit in with Rowley's family when they take him on vacation, Greg and his dad searching for common emotional ground as they experiment with activities that they can enjoy together, Greg's first crush... and yet, my son and I found the film absolutely enjoyable and entertaining.
Toward the end of our interview, I asked Kinney, "Will your characters ever grow up? Are they going to move on to high school or are they going to remain forever in middle school?"
Kinney immediately replied, "I don’t really have an appetite for the problems that happen to kids when they get older. You’re not going to see middle school kids face a lot of really grown up problems. I like to think of middle school as sort of the last bastion of childhood. Rowley is a pure kid, you know? That’s nice."
Whether or not you will enjoy Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days probably has a lot to do with your reaction to words like "gentle," "pure," and "nice." My husband and I have discussed lately how our family may be suffering from acute dystopia overload–the books, movies, and games we've been consuming have all centered on post-apocalyptic themes and as I mentioned previously in my review of the new Wii U game system, I can understand why my teenaged sons would be drawn to this mature content. However, sometimes, it is just nice to come together as a family to laugh and snuggle with some popcorn–that's the kind of experience you'll have with this film.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/EP7HcLwgkQE[/youtube]
Trailer for new Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days movie, coming Friday, August 3rd.
