Every Dog Has Its Day

From StarMag

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: DOG DAYS

Author & Illustrator: Jeff Kinney

Publisher: Puffin Books, 214 pages

ISBN: 978-0141327655

MY eldest son, who is 12, loves Jeff Kinney’s Wimpy Kid series of books. Why? “They’re funny!” he says. And? “They’re just ... funny!” he repeats. Well, I guess I should be glad he didn’t give me his usual answer, that favourite of all popular adolescent phrases: “I don’t know.”

Of course, I’m happy to see a book – any book – in his grubby paws. In an interview with US National Public Radio, Kinney was asked to comment on the opinion that his work is not exactly deathless prose. He said, “These books are turning kids on to reading and they’re going to move on to more legitimate reading in the future, and that’s a good thing.”

Kinney is being overly modest, though. While Wimpy Kid may not be winning prestigious literary awards, I think the series should be acknowledged and admired for its role in promoting reading as a enjoyable pastime.

The Wimpy Kid books are written in diary format (in font that mimics handwriting), with cartoon illustrations. When I first heard of them I was immediately reminded of Sue Townsend’s Adrian Mole. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4 was my Wimpy Kid (the first book was published when I was 15 and the main character is almost exactly my age) and I can totally understand why so many tweens love Greg Heffley, the hero of Wimpy Kid.

Humour sells and, of course, when it seems to be coming straight from the pen of a fellow kid, that makes it even more accessible and attractive.

As it is Greg’s diary we’re reading, the narrative is in the first person, which creates a sense of intimacy and immediacy. We also feel that these are Greg’s secret and most honest thoughts and feelings we’re reading about.

Unlike many novels written in diary form, Wimpy Kid does not contain conversations recorded, it would seem, verbatim, by the diarist. I can never bring myself to believe that anyone can remember word-for-word every single conversation they’ve had, so I like that Kinney has chosen to have Greg report conversations rather than reproduce them in full. This makes the diary entries more natural and believable.

Dog Days is the fourth in the series. Like the previous books, Dog Days describes Greg’s various misadventures as he tries to cope with life, family members he doesn’t quite “get” and a best friend he doesn’t seem to like much.

Unlike the other three books, it’s set during vacation time. Greg, being a wimpy kid, dreads the summer holidays because he knows he will be expected to do the sort of stuff other kids like to do – like spend time outdoors and at the public swimming pool. Greg’s idea of a perfect holiday is to stay up all night watching TV and playing video games and then sleeping in all day.

My favourite bit in Dog Days is when Greg’s mum, because she thinks boys watch too many violent movies and play too many violent video games, decides to start a reading club so she can teach Greg and his friends about “all the great literature” they’re “missing out on”. Greg, needless to say, is less than enthusiastic about his mum’s reading tastes – as far as he can tell, for a book to be considered a classic, it must be at least 50 years old and “some person or animal has to die in the end”. (Note to mothers and teachers organising reading clubs: pick Dog Days, not Little Women.)

It’s interesting to note that practically all award-winning books for children have protagonists who love to read – actually, Adrian Mole was a great reader too. I’m not sure how realistic it is that Greg would be so averse to reading yet is keeping a diary. The Wimpy Kid movie (now showing at a cinema near you) seems more his style than the books!