Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book Summary and Reviews

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book
by Jeff Kinney

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book
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Book Summary Information

Author: Jeff Kinney
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-10-01
ISBN: 0810979772
Number of pages: 224
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Publisher: Amulet Books

Book Reviews of Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book

Book Review: Be Sure You Know This Is Different from the First Two Books before Buying It
Summary: 3 Stars

Take the subtitle of this book seriously: It is mostly a do-it-yourself book rather than funny stories like the ones in Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules. Sixteen pages of colored cartoons are the only funny stories in the book that are similar to the earlier two books. Some funny illustrations surround the diary's questions. The idea is to create a journal that a youngster will look back on some day, a sort of written time capsule.

If you insist on buying this, you've been warned. It's not what you think it is . . . and it's not a very good value.

When I was 9-12 years old, that was the last thing I would have wanted. As an adult, I'm always annoyed by "books" that mostly blank pages of lined paper (with little cartoons in one corner). I can buy lined paper much cheaper in other forms.

With those warnings in mind, some youngsters will be glad if they answer some of these questions and later look back on what they wrote. I would warn those who think about doing that not to write anything that they wouldn't want parents, siblings, and friends to see at the moment. Some of the questions are ripe for creating vast embarrassment for a youngster.

The book starts off in confusing fashion on a page entitled "What're you gonna do with this thing?" At the bottom, it 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."

Contrary to that statement is the book's title: Diary of a Wimpy Kid. In addition, less than halfway through the book there's a section preceding all those pages of lined paper that says "What's Your Story?" which contains these directions:

"Use the rest of the book to keep a daily journal, write a novel, draw comic strips, or tell your life story."

Those directions immediately follow a page that says: "Diary of a _____"

Is a diary by another name any less a diary?

The fill-in-the-blank parts of the book contain lots of questions designed to elicit current likes and dislikes (video games, songs, books, movies, animals, colors, and houses), your predictions for the future, and potentially embarrassing facts. There is also a lot of emphasis on creating comic strips by providing unfinished panels to be completed and then followed by empty panels. You also have a chance to draw some maps as well. More fun is to describe things that you would like to do in the future (such as the first laws you would pass as president).

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