Jeff Kinney Books

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Jeffrey Patrick “Jeff” Kinney is a 46-year-old American movie director, actor, producer, cartoonist, game designer, and book author. Kinney has been active as a writer since 2007, for the most part writing children’s books.

Jeff Kinney is a cartoonist-turned-author who shot to fame thanks to his Diary of a Wimpy Kid children’s book series, and also the films which were created on the back of the popularity of the books. However, as well as being talented cartoonist and author, Kinney also owns a bookshop and cafe with his wife in their hometown of Plainville, Massachusetts.

Jeff Kinney was in February, 1971, in Fort Washington, Maryland, the second youngest of four children (two brothers and one sister). Kinney attended the University of Maryland at College Park, which is where his career as a cartoonist was to take off, as he created a strip for the college’s newspaper. The strip Kinney created was called Igdoof, and although it was a hit on campus, it failed to gain any traction off-campus, and Kinney retired the strip.

However, retiring Igdoof gave Kinney time to flesh out another idea, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which he started working on in 1998. Over six years, he worked on the character, the stories and the drawings, and eventually published the book in daily instalments online. The online book was a huge success, generating millions upon millions of visits, usually over 70,000 reading his work on online daily.

Thanks to this success, Jeff Kinney was approached, in 2006, to move Diary of a Wimpy Kid onto paper by the publisher Harry N. Abrams, Inc. Kinney accepted the opportunity, and the first print of Diary of a Wimpy Kid was published in 2007. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series has gone on not only to not only give Kinney commercial success in the United States, but he is now a global bestseller, and award-winner all for his work on this one children’s series.

Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series of books have also found success on the big screen, with the films proving to be a huge hit globally, with box office revenues of almost $300m. The films star Zachary Gordon as the titular Wimpy Kid, or Greg Hefley as he’s better known, and also feature Robert Capron, Chloe Grace Moretz and Steve Zahn. The books stay as close to Jeff Kinney’s original work as possible, which is why they have proven to be such a big hit with fans of the Wimpy Kid series.

Jeff Kinney is best known for writing the highly popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid series of novels. The first novel in the series that came out in 2007, was Diary of a Wimpy Kid that has spawned more than 10 titles since. After working on the novel for at least eight years, Kinney first published The Diary of a Wimpy Kid online in 2004 but it remained relatively unknown. It was not until he published the print version in 2007 that the book went viral, with the online version garnering 20 million views by 2007. Given that it is one of the most popular children’s book series, it is no wonder that it has been turned into a DIY book and several movies.

JEFF KINNEY AWARDS

Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid has been nominated for and won many awards since first publication. It has won the Favorite Book Award by The Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award Every Year it has been in publication. The New York Times was declared 2010’s Most Favorite Book Around the World and it also won the ALA Notable Book Award.

JEFF KINNEY BOOKS INTO TV/MOVIES

In 2010, Jeff Kinney announced that he had got into an agreement with 20th Century Fox to adapt the first novel in the series into a film. The movie was released in March 2010 and starred Zachary Gordon as Greg, with Robert Capron acting as his best friend Rowley. The second novel in the series Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules was also made into a film in March 2011. The Last Straw and Dog Days, the third and fourth novels in the series were made into a film named Dog Days that came out in 2012. Kinney has asserted that there is a possibility for the Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever to be made into an animated movie.

BEST JEFF KINNEY BOOKS

With more than 10 million copies of the Diary of A Wimpy Kid novels in print, the series is one of the most popular children’s book series out there. The most highly regarded novels in the series include:

The Long Haul: The ninth novel in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid novels is one of its most popular. There is nothing more refreshing and fun than going on a family road trip, except if you are the Heffleys. The family’s road trip starts out well enough with the family enjoying some quiet times, but quickly takes a turn for the worse. A runaway pig, a fender bender, crazed seabird, and gas station bathroom have seemingly conspired to ruin the Heffley family’s road trip. Nonetheless, even a road trip that starts out in such bizarre fashion can find a way of redeeming itself, and this is one adventurous road trip that the Heffleys will be talking about for years.

Hard Luck: The eighth novel in the Dairy of a Wimpy Kid novels is another excellent novel in the series. With the novels keeping their place as some of the most popular novels in the world, the eighth novel was 2013’s most anticipated novel. Greg Heffley has just lost his best friend Rowley, who now wants nothing to do with him. He has learnt that finding new friends in middle school is not as easy as he thought it would be. Taking matters into his own hands, he decides to take a roll the dice, do what he would never have done otherwise. Will his gamble pay off or will it produce another hard luck story for the campfire?

The Third Wheel: The seventh novel in the series is a continuation of the life and times of Greg Heffley. With The Valentine’s Day Dance is steadily approaching, Greg’s world has been turned into a nightmare given that he has yet to find a date yet. He is looking at spending the night out in the cold on one of the biggest night of the year. Rowley his best friend is in the same predicament, but that is little consolation given that just like him, he never seems to have any luck with the girls. An unexpected twist suddenly presents Greg with a dance partner, leaving his friend the only one without a date. But the night is long, and you can never tell just who will end up lucky in love.

Jeff Kinney FAQ

Q: What is the name of Jeff Kinney’s bookshop?

A: Jeff Kinney runs a bookshop called An Unlikely Story, which can be found in Plainville, Massachusetts.

Q: What role did Jeff Kinney have in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days?

A: Jeff Kinney had a small role as the father of Heather Hills, who, unlike the books the film is based on, is the main antagonist in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days.

When Does The Next Jeff Kinney book come out?

Jeff Kinney doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is Hot Mess and was released on October, 22nd 2024. It is the newest book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series.

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