To think that the Wimpy Kid books are pure shite?

I don’t think they’re fantastic but they’re better than Jacqueline Wilson.

I disliked them but they got my reluctant reader into reading. He then had a bit of a comic obsession which my parents were a bit about but I said 'whatever gets him reading' (and to be fair prior to that my only real success was getting him to read the Argos catalogue at Christmas). He's 14 now and reads everything he can get his hands on.

Also a keen Sweet Valley High consumer here way back in the day.

Yes I enjoyed the films!

We have watched them all a few times and laugh all the way through. Very well done. My DC loved the books too.

One of my dc love them but they are for reading alone not aloud.

My son was obsessed with Captain Underpants and Dog Man. They were the books that got him reading. However, when I read to my kids I chose the books. I read them things like The Dark Is Rising Sequence and the Narnia books. Something that wouldn’t numb my brain!

saying that I took my DS to the cinema to see the Captain Underpants movie, and thought I’d hate it, but laughed my way through all the immature toilet humour.

I do not relate to this thread at all. My dd asked me to read then to her mainly to watch me laughing at them. They're brilliant and so well observed. You’ve obviously forgotten what it’s like to be a kid around other kids. Yes he’s mean but Greg gets his comeuppance every time. That’s the whole fun of them.

Another one refusing to buy or have Walliams in the house but yeah Wimpy Kid books are atrocious.

@NeverDropYourMooncup that isn't how the fairies work at all, although they are very formulaic. It's just not that formula, which is more like a dystopian teen novel.

@IrritatedEarthling the rainbow fairies are fine, just very boring to read as an adult. I read them to my 4 and 6 year olds, and the 6 year old has started reading them to herself now. Low stakes, limited peril, early chapter books. Not mean like David Walliams. Don't worry about them.

So glad to hear this. I sold books at book fairs in schools as a part-time job and all the kids buying Point Horror, I argued that it was a love of reading. You've proved my point!

I also loved SVH and a very clever English teacher moved me onto A Town Like Alice. Still romance but substance. I never looked back. Thanks freakishly tall English teacher at the SJH school. You are remembered. I read Dostoyevsky now, thanks to you.

They're very popular with Y4/5 kids.

Was just going to say - if you have a problem with Wimpy Kid then you've obvs never had to read BeastQuest! 🤣

Yanbu. I refused to read them after a couple of chapters. They almost killed me off they are that bad. And I'm usually pretty tolerant of kids books.

Tom Gates a million times better and funnier.

My kids loved them, and the films.
DS didn't read much (and doesn't now at 16...) but he did enjoy reading those independently.
DD read all the awful Rainbow fairy books. She would read anything though. On balance I would say that the wimpy kid books were funnier and had more interesting characters!
Agree that Walliams is a very poor imitation of Roald Dahl and I didn't buy any of his, although we were given a few.

I love the wimpy kid books. They are really funny and the author gets things like parenting and sibling relationships spot on. The one where the kids are all fighting over the special blanket and the mum has to draw up a rota brought back so many childhood memories for me! Greg is supposed to be flawed and his treatment of his best friend is so obviously bad that it should hopefully prompt kids to think about friendship and what makes a good friend. I pre-order the new book every October 😳.

I thought the David Walliams books had fantastic plots but the writing was poor. I don't think kids pick up on that stuff though. My 9 year old is insisting on reading the Dogman books to me at the moment and that's pretty painful too, but all my kids love them.

Yes, my kid loves them but they are definitely for kids to read themselves. Being read them by a parent is not quite the same.

What has everyone against Walliams ? I'd never heard about him until DS got a book for his 11th birthday. We read it together and then I bought several others because I was happy for him to finally appreciate something else than mangas, wimpy kid and the tree house series. I especially liked the one with gangsta granny that was funny but also touching at times. Didn't find anything inappropriate in it🤷‍♀️

I spent years hearing kids read at DCs’ primary school and wholeheartedly agree about Wimpy Kid; I understand the “anything that gets kids reading” argument but there are limits! Thankfully my two never read them and could read independently quite young. However, I really liked Beast Quest when they were 6ish and can even tolerate Rainbow Fairies - yes, the plots are ridiculously repetitive but they are decently written with a good range of vocabulary.

How old is your son? DOAWK books are aimed at 8-10 year olds not little kids. They're not meant for reading aloud they're meant for independent reading!

I didn’t realise that was a series! DC1 has read the first one. She cried buckets when they left one of the characters behind!

Love the Wimpy Kid films.

Love wimpy kids. Have spent many a fun hour giggling with the kids when reading them. I think you just have to embrace them and the weirdness tbh.

Wallaims on the other hand, odious, hateful wannabe. I refuse to read them to DC.

I think they're brilliant, and Rowley Jefferson is my favourite fictional character of all time. My son met the author and he's absolutely lovely. The boy who played Rodrick in the first film was shafted, ignore any subsequent counterfeit Rodricks.

This was my favourite series as a child 😂

Better than David Walliams