Customer Reviews

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book

5 star:		(169)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have a kindergartener and a third grader who are gung ho over "Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book." My 8 year-old son, who never enjoyed writing, is writing every day in his own diary. The kids fought over it until my kindergartener went out and bought her own.

I asked my son what was so special about this diary. He said it asks him questions. I looked and half the book is filled with pages prompting things like "Five things nobody knows about you because they never bothered to ask" or "The worst nightmare you ever had." There are 16 pages of full color Zoo-Wee Mama comics followed by lined blank pages for the children to write freely.

This Do-It-Yourself Book is a hit. My kids have shown their books to all their friends and I've seen other kids toting them around, as well. It inspired my children to go on and buy their own private locked diaries after having gone through this one. If you have a "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" fan, this book is sure to delight.

I am 42 years old and bought this book, not for one of my kids, but for me! I am 42 years old and am almost COMPLETELY FINISHED with MY Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do It Yourself Book INCLUDING the journal portion in the back. I was a cartoonist as a kid, I am now a recovering wimpy kid, and I am an avid journaler, so this book rates very high in my world. And my kids love to pick it up and see what new thing Dad came up with. It has inspired their creativity and my 7 year old is dying for her own copy. Set the example, parents, do your own Do It Yourself Book and be your kids' hero! Loved the first two books before it, by the way. RECOVERING WIMPY KIDS UNITE!!

About the book: Instead of a novel, about half of the book is a workbook/journal -- including survey pages (like: "Five things NOBODY knows about you"), themed drawing pages (like under the heading: "The WORST NIGHTMARE you ever had"), unfinished comic pages (in the typical Wimpy Kid style, where you finish the comic or add text to the balloons). The other half of the book is lined blank journal pages.

We bought this for my 9-year old son because it was a 'Wimpy Kid' title. Despite that, I wasn't expecting him to do more than page through it a couple times, because although he loves the Wimpy Kid series, he has never gone out of his way to write anything more than has been absolutely necessary for school.

To my surprise, my son loves this book. He's had this book about 8 months now and continues to come back to it. He's drawn his own cartoons, filled in many of the surveys, and has written numerous pages of journal entries. Before this Do-It-Yourself book he had no interest in writing; now he comes back to the book often to add to it.

This book has opened my son to the world of journaling. What's more, when he's grown it'll give him a snapshot of what a funny, goofy kid he was.

Update 4/15/2010

At 10 1/2, he still loves coming back to this book and adding to it!

We finally found the perfect series for our 10 year old son. This book is so disarming that he is doing creative writing and doesn't even know it! This is what learning should be for a 10 year old! This book follows the "Diary" series and allows kids to finish cartoons, write future predictions, and answer questions that every 10 year old boy wants to answer. Highly recommend.

This is not a book just to sit down and read through but an activity book or a journal. However, the very first page says, "Whatever you do, just make sure you don't write down your `feelings' in here. Because one thing's for sure: This is NOT a diary." There are all kinds of activities in which the readers can make lists, answer questions about various topics, make their own comics, draw pictures, and such like. Plus, the end contains 46 blank, lined pages with the instructions, "Use the rest of this book to keep a daily journal, write a novel, draw comic strips, or tell your life story."

When The Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which tells the story of Greg Heffley, his family, and his friends, first came out, I heard about it but did not read it because it didn't sound as if it would appeal to me. Later, I was sent a copy of one of the sequels (#5, The Ugly Truth) to review, and my reading of it confirmed my earlier opinion that this kind of book is just not my cup of tea. However, the books are immensely popular with many children, so youngsters who do like "The Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series might well enjoy the activities in this book. The Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book was first published in 2008, but the updated edition is expanded with more than sixty new pages, and has 32 pages of full-color comics, including sixteen brand-new. It is designed to inspire creative expression and encourage reluctant readers.

Fantastic book. My two youngest kids - my son and daughter, respectively - loved the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do it Yourself book. It actually was for my son, but my daughter kept stealing it from him and writing her own things in it, thus creating arguments (typical for those two anyway). Now they both want more Wimpy Kid books from the series and she wants her own Do It Yourself book. I now have ideas for useful birthday and Christmas presents that's not another toy and motivates them to put their day and thoughts in written words and do so creatively. THANK YOU Jeff Kinney. As a longtime sportswriter, I feel writing, especially a journal or diary, is very important at every age. :)

Mike Boyd
Ste. Genevieve, Mo.

my grandchildren loved this . They have devoted much time to trying to complete it.Much better than video games or tv.It requires some reading and thought and I certainly don't feel guilty about using it as a babysitter.Can't wait for them to read it five or ten years from now

My 9-yo is a voracious reader and loved Kinney's two "Wimpy Kid" books. When he asked me for this at our school book-fair a few days ago, I was really against it because I figured he'd read what was there and that would be it. But for $5 for the paperback, even a slight chance he would write in it was worth it.

This is a boy who is almost done with the Harry Potter series - reading is not a problem. But getting him to WANT to put pencil to paper is a challenge, and that translates into a lot of painful school nights getting homework done.

Turns out the secret to getting a kid who hates to write to get some practice is a good running start and fart jokes. He's picked it up every day, and though he struggles with his penmanship and getting ideas out of his head, he has really used this! I don't think he'll be journaling regularly any time soon, but I think even the past few days of comic strip writing and other activities has been well worth the 5 bucks.

Kinney is a genius!

My son has really enjoyed Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, but he LOVES this! He has been carrying it around and writing in daily in the month since we got it. It's the perfect combination of more cartoons to read, fill-in-the-blanks, and space to start his own journal (thanks for not calling it "diary", Mom).

My daughter loves this book. she writes in it alot and loves the bits of the story in it as well.