Tag Archives: humor

Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeff Kinney

Children's 9-12, Fiction, , ,

This post could also be titled Why the Book is Always Better than the Movie, by Nancy Dunne.  This is, in my grown up opinion, one of the best YA/9-12 series of books I’ve seen in a long time.  The main character,  Greg, is an awkward pre-teen who has been given a diary journal by his mother, and the books are basically his handwritten words with cartoons drawn in to help explain the story.  These books are hilarious, especially to those of us who were awkward but didn’t really know it at the time.

Greg’s mother and father play important roles in his story, as do his older brother Rodney and baby brother Manny.  Greg’s best friend Rowdy is the typical kid who has hit pre-teen land but would rather stay in little-kid world.  There are other characters who, when they make appearances in the book, will remind you of kids you knew growing up and will surely remind younger readers of other kids they see every day at school.

The movie…well, I’m not a movie reviewer, but I tend to always think that the movie/TV show is better than the book.  In this case, I believe it to be true.  There is so much in the book that can’t be put on the screen faithfully.  While I think the movie makers tried their best (and there is even a book to prove it that shows how the movie was made), this is one work that needs to remain on the page.  It’s the Diary…not the web log.

I loved these books and anxiously await anything else that Jeff Kinney writes.  Get them for your kids but read them yourself.  Neither of you will be disappointed.

I’d Really Like to Eat a Child, by Sylviane Donnio, Dorothée de Monfreid (Illustrator)

Fiction, Picture books, ,

Back when I was still working in the children’s section at Waterstone’s, I would often pause in the NEVER ENDING struggle that is keeping the picture books in some semblance of order to quickly read through one that caught my eye.  This one not only caught my eye and held it, but also prompted me to read it aloud in the store because it made me laugh THAT MUCH.

The message in the book is obvious:  listen to your parents because they really do know best in some situations.  The baby crocodile wants to eat a child, but doesn’t want to eat his own breakfast even though his parents plead that it will help him grow up big and strong.  He stalks the child and finally pounces, at which time the child laughs at the tiny croc and pitches him back in the water.  Result?  Tiny croc starts on a pile of bananas in order to grow up big and strong.

Disturbing?  Possibly, if you’re of the ilk that can’t see past the humor in the subject matter and plot.  Hilarious?  Definitely.  Going on my pre-planned shelf for the day I have my own kids?  You betcha.