Diary of a Wimpy Kid

I was working with one of my students the other day and she was so excited about the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book. She told me that I absolutely must read at least one of the books. I respect my students and particularly this one enough to give it a try.

That being said, I didn't love this book. It's a quick read and the pictures make it easy. This is the second or third of the series and it was easy enough to follow without having read the others, but I didn't love the story. The narrator, Greg, is kind of selfish and quite manipulative of his best friend. He teases other kids (but also gets his fair share of teasing too) and doesn't bother to work hard in school.

That being said, this book could be a great book to help motivate reluctant readers. As I already mentioned, it's quite easy and fast to read, even the font itself invites the young reader in. It's a "real chapter book" but has a lot of pictures that help tell the story. The popularity (and the fact that there's a movie) will probably help more kids to get into this book. Not a great read for the teacher, but a good resource for the classroom.