Dog Days (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 4) [Hardcover]

Jeff Kinney (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 12, 2009 | Age Range: 8 and up | Series: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Book 4) | Lexile Measure: 1010L (What's this?)

It’s summer vacation, the weather’s great, and all the kids are having fun outside. So where’s Greg Heffley? Inside his house, playing video games with the shades drawn.
 
Greg, a self-confessed “indoor person,” is living out his ultimate summer fantasy: no responsibilities and no rules. But Greg’s mom has a different vision for an ideal summer . . . one packed with outdoor activities and “family togetherness.”
 
Whose vision will win out? Or will a new addition to the Heffley family change everything?

Editorial Reviews

Review

The world has gone crazy for Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid series Sun Kinney is right up there with J K Rowling as one of the bestselling children's authors on the planet. Independent Hilarious! Sunday Telegraph The most hotly anticipated children's book of the year is here - Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Big Issue --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Jeff Kinney is an online game developer and designer, and a #1 New York Times bestselling author. In 2009, Jeff was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. He spent his childhood in the Washington, D.C., area and moved to New England in 1995. Jeff lives in southern Massachusetts with his wife and their two sons.

Product Details

• Age Range: 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Amulet Books; 1 edition (October 12, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810983915
• ISBN-13: 978-0810983915
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (448 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #22 in Books > Children's Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Comics & Graphic Novels
  • #51 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels
  • #63 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Family Life

More About the Author

Jeff Kinney is an online game developer and designer, and a #1 New York Times bestselling author. In 2009, Jeff was named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World. He spent his childhood in the Washington, D.C., area and moved to New England in 1995. Jeff lives in southern Massachusetts with his wife and their two sons.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 39 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Instant Favorite with Son! October 21, 2009

By Jamie Wilson VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

My son loves this series so of course I pre-ordered this book for him. It just arrived today and boy did he gush when I surprised him with it after school. I even got a hug and an "I love you!" before he disappeared with it for the remainder of the evening. He's about halfway through with it already and stopped himself so he would have more to enjoy tomorrow. He rereads them all anyways. I also flipped through it before he came home and chuckled at the parts, the boy reminds me of my own and is probably why he loves this series so much. It is very relatable to kids without being a bad influence. I love the humor and that it keeps my son reading!

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars dog days October 13, 2009

A Kid's Review

Format:Hardcover

I think Dog Days is the best wimpy kid book yet. It is also a hilarious book. I love how it follows the story so well. There is a lot of unexpected parts in this book. It had an outstanding ending. I had waited one month for this book to come out. I think it was "totally" worth the wait. There aren't any new characters, but it does have a lot more of Rowley for people who like Rowley. I hope the people who buy this love it. (Review by George, Age 10)

39 of 52 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Not only fun October 13, 2009

By T. Szefler

Format:Hardcover

First of all the whole series of Wimpy Kid books deserves its success. My kids love the books and I also read all of them myself. I think it is a great series of books not only for the children but for their parents as well. And if you pay some attention to the reading you will actually realize that the books are also in a way educational. Greg is actually a very smart kid and the simple drawings are just perfect for demonstrating humour. Another kid's series that I like for that educational aspect is Why Some Cats are Rascals, Book 2 .

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as funny as previous installments October 17, 2009

By Cathe Fein Olson VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

My daughters and I eagerly awaited the latest adventures of Greg and company. We absolutely love the series and my daughters have read the first 3 books multiple times. We got "Dog Days" on Wednesday. One daughter read it that night, next daughter read it Thursday night, and I read it last night. While we liked it, the three of us agree that we didn't LOVE it. It was not nearly as funny as the previous books. For the first almost 3/4 of the book, Greg came across more whiney than funny and some of the stuff he talked about, like the hairy shower men, was just yucky. The book really got good when Greg started going to the pool to "hang out" with high school lifeguard Heather and the trip with Rowley and his family was great. It was just in the last 1/4 or so that I actually read some laugh-out-loud scenes. I did like how everything came together at the end.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Rankings of the books and the funny moments in the book October 7, 2010

By Laura Heller

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I really like your books. You have a great sense of humor and are good at doing cartoons. The minute I got the 3rd book I just started laughing meaning I really liked the book. So I thought the books were so great that I chose to put them in rankings:
1.#3
2.#4
3.#2
4.#1
I also have the movie that I got in the summertime and Have the movie novel and the Do-It-Yourself book.
I am so happy about the books and the type of books they are.
The only items left by you that I so want is the movie soundtrack, book #5 The Ugly Truth. Thank you so much for writing these books. More books by you I would really like. But if you can do that.
The last thing I am going to tell is that I have also gotten into the Big Nate series. The 5th book sounds so RAD. Please write more books.

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 Stars: Not so Funny October 18, 2009

By N. Bilmes VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

The previous 3 Wimpy Kid books were laugh-out-loud funny throughout the entire books. That's what I was hoping for in this volume, but didn't get. I don't find constant whining and complaining to be funny.

The first 75 pages are written by a waste of a kid complaining about summer vacation, and nothing truly funny starts to happen until after that point. The middle 1/3 of the book is the best, and I found myself laughing aloud frequently. Unfortunately, the last part of the book finds Gregory resuming his whining, and the humor faded.

Overall, this was mediocre, and not up to the standards of the series.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful book October 18, 2009

A Kid's Review

Format:Hardcover

Diary of a wimpy kid really amazes me. It's about a person named Greg who has to survive middle school. Now, he's in summer vacation.
I think the summer vacation theme is a good idea in this series, so readers can take a little break from the school theme. The first few pages are basically explanation of Greg's summer vacation. After that, the funny parts come. Overall, this book is great.
My tip in reading this book is that you don't read too much of it in one day. That way, you can hold the suspense of the story for the next day.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not that funny August 19, 2011

By J. Hilton

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

SPOILERS. This book is not as funny as earlier volumes in the Wimpy Kid series. In fact, my family found it kind of disturbing. I've been reading it out loud to my kids - ages 7 and 11 - before bed, and while there are a few chuckle-worthy moments, most of it is a whole lot of lame. Greg is a whiny selfish jerk, the mom is perpetually clueless, the dad is a clueless jerk (who the heck forgets their wife at a gas station while on a family road trip and doesn't notice for almost an hour?), and even the grandpa turns out to be a jerk ("Oh, btw, I ran over your pet dog and then lied about it, isn't that funny?" and then dad gets mad and sticks grandpa with the brunch check on Father's Day in retaliation - how mature). Even when the father has to fix something Greg screwed up (like Mrs. Canfield's lawn), he doesn't make Greg responsible for his own actions, or even explain to the kid what he did wrong. Earlier books seemed more clever and funny, this one just feels like Jeff Kinney is running out of ideas.