DIARY OF A WIMPY KID BOOKS UPDATE
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID BOOKS SERIES

They loved Twilight with an unashamed passion.

The result was one I couldn't have planned my kids became more entrenched in their identities as readers. I suffered through all four of the ridiculous Twilight books just so I could keep up with my obsessed students, and when asked my opinion I gave it freely - Bella is a fool. I celebrate any book that makes kids want to read. I freely admit that I probably 'just don't' get it,' and I'm okay with that. The protagonist is a mean, unfunny little jerk. Not wanting to disappoint a student excited about a book, I finally sat down one afternoon and flew through it. One of my students gave me his copy of Wimpy Kid and then asked me every day for a month if I had read it yet. I'm not an evil mom who refuses her child access to popular fun lit. Frankly, my own literary choices include both the laudable and the merely fluffy. He's also read some other books that I feel are more exemplary. I do not believe in censoring my readers, although I hope to guide them in their choices.

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID BOOKS SERIES

My son, with whom I tried to read this book three-plus years ago and found inappropriate at the time, has since read all the books (much to my chagrin) and has pre-ordered the latest (are we up to #6?!) I've made him spend his own money or get them from the library, as my feelings about this series haven't changed that much that I'm willing to purchase them myself. Just thought I'd add a note, in the interest of honesty. This review is continuing to get the occasional 'like' or comment, so I guess people are still discovering it.

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID BOOKS UPDATE

**********Most recent update 10/2011 ***********įunny, the way things we write in cyberspace stick around.or maybe not so funny. Until then, I guess we'll have to continue reading all the other books about older children that manage to both entertain AND provide a challenging reading/listening experience, develop vocabularies, broaden horizons, and remain, in some way, worthwhile. However, I stand by my feelings about the main character, and when my children reach middle school, I will still encourage them towards books with redeeming characters. Normally, in my hunt for challenging reading and listening material for my children, I pre-read books or read lots of reviews.

It is, despite the easy vocabulary and large font and illustrations and incessant marketing towards younger children, apparently intended for middle school ages and up. Thought I'd offer an update to be more specific and put to rest unfounded concerns. Oddly enough, this book review seems to be engendering strong reactions in a number of readers. I suppose one good thing came from it: Jacob came home from school the next day, sat down with a new notebook, and proceeded to design a cover and several entries for his new 'diary' book. But I did what I almost never have to do-I took the book back to store.

To be fair, I didn't finish the book, and it may very well be a great book to give to a fifth or sixth grader who still struggles with recreational reading. I'm willing to cut an author some slack with characters that start out rough but learn valuable life lessons, but not with a character that embodies mediocrity, laziness, and is a smart aleck to boot. And actually, he would have-except after one night of reading this out loud I discovered that the content was definitely not age appropriate (nor redeeming in any way, to my mind). I pictured him, the boy who fancies himself an author and artist, just eating up this book. Although the tone was sarcastic, I thought that it would prove to be a good read-aloud for my 6 year old son, who still needs some enticement into stories. I got this book based on a quick skim in the store where I saw lots of funny line illustrations and large fonts that mimic handwriting.

Diary of a wimpy kid books