To think that the Wimpy Kid books are pure shite?

[FlyingPi]

I read to my kid every night, I love it and am happy to read almost anything even if he goes through phases of the same book or author for a while (we must have read Dogman A Tale of Two Kitties about 15 times).

But I freaking hate the Wimpy Kid books. And we're currently on our fourth one in a row, he spent a Christmas book token on three of them and also keeps asking for them at the library.

The hero is a little bully and is just mean to everyone. There are loads of parts where he makes fun of people for being fat, bald, stupid etc. They're not particularly funny, to me anyway. And there is a weird, WEIRD emphasis on the hero trying to chat up girls all the time which seems really odd in a book for this age group who are not yet at that stage surely? In one illustration he even is shown peeping in a window at some girls having a pillowfight. WTF? I also feel that the situations are honestly quite boring.

Just wanted to have a rant! Obviously I'll keep reading them if my kid wants me to, but I am really hoping he moves onto another series soon.
Does anyone else hate them?

Goosebumps- yes. A "cliffhanger" every second page, and then you turn over and it was just the neighbour's cat's shadow or something.

I must have had 40 of them. And about a hundred babysitters club, all extremely formulaic and BSC was committee written AFAIK. explains a lot to be fair. I wasted good years on them when I could have been reading something better, but people see you like a thing, and that's your Christmas present for six years running. Still grateful though, Mum 🥰

DD1 is 6 and she’s really enjoyed the Mummy Fairy series by Sophie Kinsella and the Isadora Moon books recently. Hotel Flamingo is fun too.

Three words: Lottie Fucking Brooks. Horrendous.

Argh my DD used to love those and the bloody Rainbow magic fairy books! Absolute tripe but I would never discourage any reading or being read to. It’s a phase you have to tolerate towards the bigger picture I’m afraid😂
Shes past the reading to stage now and I miss reading Roald Dahl, Anne fine, Michael morpurgo.

Ugh i know Beast Quest is boring but it doesn’t present bullying as normal/funny like wimpy kid. Barry Loser, by the same author I think, has an absolutely awful story where a kid who noone likes, and who sounds like he is autistic , has a birthday party and noone wants to go. I was expecting a positive ending but no - the kids ruin the party and the boy has a meltdown and its meant to be funny.

When my child first picked DoW he didn’t get into them. This year he had them in his classroom library/ shelf and as his friends were reading them he gave them another go and now loves them. He asked for all them and has been reading one every two days, alongside his school book. He also picked Barry Loser from the local library as it seemed similar to DOW and read it all in one day. I thought that is much worse, from the bits I got to hear, so didn’t try and get him more of those…

He wrote a few stories inspired by DoW and dressed up as Greg for book day, so all good (he hates dressing up usually).

I remember thinking similar as you about another series - the Beast Quest books. I found them very distasteful, violent and gory for six/ seven year olds. But luckily my son didn’t get properly into them.

He loved DogMan and has read all of them at least once and as a parent I wasn’t sure that’s a good idea because of all the bad spelling (on purpose) and some bigger ideas that were a bit hard to explain but he laughed so much at them!

The other series he read super fast as he loved, even though he wouldn’t admit to his friends, was The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blythe.

We read Mr Penguin books aloud and I enjoy them too. We are also about to start Harry Potter.

Oh I’ve got a very soft spot for the wimpy kid books, I really enjoy reading them aloud! The younger kid gets the new one in his stocking each Christmas and even the teen still enjoys reading them. I far prefer them to Captain underpants and Tom gates, or god forbid, the treehouse books.

Some books just feel like junk food - they're designed to be quickly shoveled down but don't offer any 'nutrition'! It just feels like kids being dumbed down and then they can't handle anything with more substance. I'm definitely seeing this with one of my teens and it's such a bloody shame as she's missing out, I wish I'd been firmer with not having so much drivel in the house!

Yes, I think it’s the illustrations that draw the children. They are used to Quentin Blake illustrations through the Roald Dahl books.
Dc read Mr Stink. I wasn’t sure what to make of it but I guess we got to talk about things like homelessness.

My 11 year old refuses to read anything published before 2000. He’s missing out on so much! He did tolerate me reading him some of the Nicholas stories mentioned above though.

As others have said, reading the easily digestible drivel gets them into the habit and love of reading and the rest will follow. My teen was obsessed with the middle school series of books at one point but now he’s at a delightful stage of beginning to devour adult fiction (sci-fi a favourite at the moment) and actually asking for recommendations from DH and I, and oh, how his reading world is opening up! So wonderful to see. They do come through the drivel stage as we all came through the Enid blyton and then babysitters club or sweet valley high stage…

For various reasons, his reading age is much lower than his comprehension age, so that would only leave him with early reading level books at the moment (he is 9). Just because he can't read fluently yet doesn't mean he should be deprived of stories he enjoys, I think it would be very harsh (and self-defeating) to say he could only have books that I personally like, unless there is something absolutely offensive in them. We do talk about it when Greg is being mean to people like his friend Rowley, my son described him tonight as "an absolute idiot" but he still likes the books.

I really loved reading the Dogman and Cat Kid books with him, very funny and actually a lot to think about as well - redemption in Dogman, creativity in Cat Kid. I've read a number of my childhood favourites too, it's very hit and miss. E Nesbitt, I'm afraid, was so turgid and dull that we gave up - I'm amazed I ever enjoyed these. The Bagthorpe Family saga has gone down well, also Diana Wynne Jones, Danny the Champion of the World, Narnia.

How have you assessed his reading age?

DS 6 quite likes rainbow fairies, I found a few in a library book sale. I haven't read them myself, can someone give me the cons briefly?

@IrritatedEarthling they are just typical early reader repetitive stuff. DD1 would get 15 at a time out from the library and would have read 2 by the time her DSis had chosen her books. They are great for building up reading stamina.

As a general point the books that build reading stamina and that are popular with kids tend to be despised by parents. If this was the 1970s it would be Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl who would be being criticised for producing badly written repetitve nonsense. But now the current batch of parents consider them good and the similar new authors bad.

Also, adults read a lot of drivel as well. Can anyone honestly say they only ever read serious classics? We all read a bit of light comfort reading whether that is romance or cozy crime or thrillers or comedy or even rereading children's classics.

I watched the films (which are hilarious) with DS the other day and in one BBQ scene there was a confederate flag hanging up

The books are shite though and too short

You are choosing some very ‘old school’ titles there - may be why he’s attracted to Wimpy Kid, as it’s a little more ‘cool’ (🥴).
Please explore some more contemporary books. They may well do the job of moving him on from them. If he wants stories, there are far better around!

I think part of the joke with Greg Heffley is that he has no self awareness. He's a terrible friend to Rowley, but thinks he's great.

I love the Big Nate books. Fantastic pictures.

I got rid of the Diary of a Wimpy Kids we inherited, after reading some and thinking there was a tone of pure nastiness running underneath, not to mention a sort of weird, pointless, level of anxiety about normal things (eg flying on a plane, going on a car journey, even going to school) that didn’t seem very helpful to introduce to my seven year old, fairly happy go lucky kid. After reading one of the books he started worrying about some of the fears that the kid in the book was spiralling about! I disagree that all reading is good. Books can obviously have powerful effects on readers, especially young and impressionable minds.

No, you've misunderstood my point there. The vast majority of the books I read to him are contemporary, which is as it should be I think. Overall I do think there are amazing books around, far better probably than what I had when I was young. For instance I read a ton of stories about incredibly posh girls at boarding schools or with horses, probably just because they were available, I remember finding them quite confusing. The diversity now is great.

Most that we've read are good, Dav Pikey, Bumble and Snug, the Jolley Rogers books by Jonny Duddle, even the Magic Treehouse series, enjoyable for both of us. The only ones I've strongly disliked are Wimpy Kids and one by David Baddiel called The Parent Agency (endless James Bond references, kid had no idea who that was so kept having to explain).

I was responding there to the other posters who had suggested various classic books and saying that of course I had tried some of my particular old favourites, but some just don't work anymore. And some of course do.

Re Confederate flag in Wimpy Kid, actually in one of them I think there's a reference to the dad doing Civil War battle dioramas or something. I didn't think anything of it, but come to think of it that's quite weird in an American context (doesn't really matter here in UK as kids won't know what it means).

My youngest has become obsessed with the film ‘4 kids and it’ over the holidays - it’s a Jacqueline Wilson sequel/retelling of 5 Children and it. We haven’t read the book, but if the E Nesbit book is too hard going, try that one if you want him to love the Psammead.

I haven't had the pleasure yet, but reading the second one of the faraway tree books to my two (5&7) and they are loving them.

I remember being read one in year 2 at school and I loved it and got my parents to get the rest so I could read them.

OMG this was all my child was bringing home from primary after finishing the scheme at one point. I tried to complain and ask them to steer her in another direction but they said she could read what she wanted. She did however move onto the Wimpy kid books, Dork diaries and then my younger was heavily into Tom Gates for a while.

Eldest (ASD) has always been a capable Easter beyond actual age but very reluctant. Apparently she can’t see pictures on her head so can’t imagine the stories. She happily reads books after seeing the films though as she is given a picture of the character to think about. It’s an ASD thing. The Wimpy kid books went through the first few years of high school as well until she was captured more with period type books set during the war or Victorian times.

Youngest progressed on as soon as secondary came around and loved reading. Read all of the Good girls guide to murder, which is probably recommended for older than 12 when she was reading it and the subsequent books. She keeps finding books series online to read and I’m just happy she is reading without lots of reminders to read. With my eldest I had to sit and read half an hour each day of my own book whilst she did reading. It worked. School insist they log and get signed off for 20 minutes a day on the first few years at high school.

we also went through the Dahl books briefly. David Williams was popular for a while when they were bringing out the short films. Youngest has seen all the Harry Potter films and does plan to read them all at some point. Although o think she’s now passed the HP phase. Eldest also liked the Malory towers series and still likes to watch them on tv.

Can’t really complain. I was heavily into Sweet Valley twins and then Sweet Falley high. Drop in the Judy Bloom Forever book amongst those and that was high school reading outside of the school directed classics.

I’m really interested in what you wrote. My son is 10.5 and ASD, he’s always been a strong reader (v early to start reading) but is struggling with the more challenging books his class are doing not having pictures. He flat out refuses to read anything that doesn’t have at least some illustrations. I’ve been reading him Percy Jackson as a compromise and he says he struggles to understand what is going on without pictures. I wasn’t sure whether it was an autistic thing but from what you wrote it is? Did you daughter eventually get used to books without illustrations? He loves to read but is sticking ridigly to series that might be a bit young for him now as won’t move on to more challenging stuff.

It’s called aphantasia. My DD doesn’t really enjoy reading for pleasure to be honest. At almost 16 and about to sit GCSEs we’ve had to make sure that other versions of set texts have been explored. We’ve watched film/TV and theatre versions of A Christmas Carol many times and this is their strongest of their English paper’s when sitting mock exams. They really enjoyed An inspector calls as they read and discussed it in class in sections so I think that helped rather than silently reading. They’ve also watched a film. I feel like we’ve had to hit the GCSE texts from different sensory perspectives to make sure they can take it all in with enough detail. Audio books used to be a preferred method at one point but listening to the story is similar to reading it if you can’t generate the pictures in your own head.

I understand many people don’t like film or tv adaptations of texts as they don’t always show the true story that was written but it’s definitely helped. Interestingly my younger daughter watched the TV series of A Hood Girl’s guide to murder and she said it spoilt the book as she had read the book first and had imagined the characters a lot differently and also some of the story had been changed.

I’d maybe try and encourage more challenging texts if you can get a visual version. Maybe try graphic novels. My youngest really enjoyed the hearstopper books and they’ve both watched the Netflix series as well. Autistic child not keen on graphic novels but my other child was fine with them. But I think there are lots of more challenging texts available as graphic novels. Percy Jackson is one that’s available as films as well so could be good to try watching and reading. My youngest has read one or two of them at 11.

For my autistic child the length of a book can be challenging as well as the size of the text. The school librarian got her onto some of the dyslexic friendly books which she did enjoy reading. They’re shorter and bigger text but not necessarily younger content. My younger non autistic (not saying NT as suspect ADHD) is reading some really chunky books but the autistic child can’t deal with those as they’re too overwhelming.

YANBU. Ditto the Walliams bollocks. Surely one of the pleasures and privileges of being a parent is to heavily influence your children's book, film, music and tv consumption?