Nothing will ever beat Shel Silverstein as a pirate.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days Jeff Kinney

Usually when I have a book release party (such as Harry Potter and the Party of Anticipation or A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Pitiful Party) I get a lot of large care groups that come. Overall, this is great. A lot of larger day care/after-school care groups use our library. But, that means a lot of kids are at the party who haven't read the book. After a few years of this, for my Wimpy Kid party, I was prepared. In addition to not doing a trivia contest or any activity that needed knowledge of the books, every activity came with a lengthy introduction to place things in context.. But, for the first time, IT WAS NOT NEEDED.

We played Cheese Touch Tag (which used Dan's awesome Cheesehead Coaster) and I was introducing it and said "Ok, in the books, there is a piece of cheese that lives" and everyone shouted "ON THE BASKETBALL COURT!" It was awesome! In addition to Cheese Touch Tag (which is normal tag, but once you're tagged, you have to take the piece of cheese. And you're not allowed to throw the cheese.) We played the Fregley game that was on Jeff Kinney's website (hilarious!) and the Loaded Diaper game (buy a pack of disposable diapers. Fill them with such things as soy sauce, thousand island dressing, mustard, etc. Kids have to smell each diaper and guess what it is. Soy sauce was the hardest. NO ONE could get it.) We also had sheets with frames in them for kids to draw their own comics and pages from comic books and comic strips with the dialog whited-out so the kids had to write the words. (Other great comic ideas can be found on Jessica Abel's website. I only wish I knew about them BEFORE the party!)

We then drew names for copies of Dog Days and the Do-It-Yourself Book and gave out some of our leftover summer reading prizes. It was a great party and everyone had fun and even more awesome than the fact EVERYONE not only read the books but was a HUGE fan? 95% of our turnout was guys. Very awesome.

As for the book itself?

Not my favorite of the series (honestly, I don't think Kinney's ever going to top the Shel Silverstein moment from The Last Straw. Greg's an even bigger jerk than usual and there's an interesting friendship war with Rowley. A lot going on, but I didn't find it as funny as his others. Not to say it's not enjoyable, he just has a really high standard bar at this point.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Middle Grade Fun Series!

First off, this weekend I did a chapter-by-chapter analysis (with brief summary at top) of the 1949 and 1967 editions of Nancy Drew and The Clue of the Leaning Chimney over at Geek Buffet. Check it out!

Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: New Girl Meg Cabot

There's nothing wrong with walking to school with your mom and dad on your first day. Except everything.

Allie's back! She's settling into her new house and her new school, but nothing, of course, goes to plan. The big problem is Rosemary, the bully, who wants to kill Allie. And then Lady Serena Archibald gets really sick and might have her kittens too soon and they might not live! AND THEN HOW WILL ALLIE GET A CAT?! And then Grandma comes. Grandma's good at presents, but she isn't very nice.

Hilarious. Allie is an excellent heroine with a strong voice and a strong sense of self. If you liked the first, you'll like this one. I'm very much looking forward to Best Friends And Drama Queens, which comes out in March. The plot sounds a lot like something Cabot describes happening to her in her contribution to Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume and how Blubber was really helpful. I hope see gives Judy Blume a shout-out in the book!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw Jeff Kinney

Greg's back! Huzzah! I managed to snag a copy of lunch, but it's been hard--the holds list on this is miles long, and it's ALL kids. Ever since this came out, I've had to deal with the crushed faces of children when I tell them where they are on the list.

Anyway, Greg's afraid his dad will send him (not Roderick, HIM) to Military School.

If you like Wimpy Kid, this books won't disappoint, I mean...

There was this book Dad used to read to me every night called 'The Giving Tree.' It was a really good book, but the back of it had a pictures of the author, this guy named Shel Silverstein.

But Shel Silverstein looks more like a burglar or a pirate than a guy who should be writing books for kids. Dad must have known that picture kind of freaked me out, because on night after I got out of bed, Dad said, 'IF YOU GET OUT OF BED AGAINST TONIGHT, YOU'LL PROBABLY RUN INTO SHEL SILVERSTEIN IN THE HALLWAY.'

That really did the trick. Ever since then, I STILL don't get out of bed at night, even if I really need to use the bathroom.

How can you NOT love it?!

Wimpy Kids Everywhere UNITE!

So today we have one book from the "way back files" and a book I just read.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Jeff Kinney

Greg Heffley is the perfect 21st century every boy. A dorky best friend, a horrible older brother, an annoying little brother, and parents that mean well, but they're parents. Can you get any more embarrassing!?

Starting out the school year, Greg's mom makes him keep a journal in exchange for no longer having the scrub the toilets on Saturday mornings. (This is NOT a diary. It's a journal.) 75% hand-lettered prose, 25% comic, Greg's trials and tribulations will be a hit with girls and boys, heavy readers, and the most reluctant. Also, a sure hit for grown-ups remembering their own childhood.

I swear I went to school with Greg. I think I had crush on him at some point.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid started out as a webcomic on Funbrain, where you can still read large chunks of Greg's adventures.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules

Another school year, another journal. Only this year, Greg still has the cheese-touch. Also, he did something really embarrassing last summer, and older brother Roderick saw, so he's kinda Roderick's slave.

Roderick's band is always over playing their "music" and Manny (Greg's little brother) continues to make life difficult. It doesn't help that Rowley (Greg's best friend) is as dorky as ever.

Can't a guy catch a break? A FANTASTIC follow up to the first.

My favorite is the Wimpy Kid phenomenon. When the first one came out, I put it on display and it eventually got picked up. My favorite was when a 12-year-old boy came in and started leafing through it. I looked over a little while later, and he was sitting down, deeply engrossed. He read the whole thing in one sitting.

But now! With the second book? Hold lists out the wazoo! For both books! Kids have been waiting FOR-ever (their word) to get their hands on this book. Does it just have great word-of-mouth with the kids? It's fantastic!