Vancouver children are crazy about ‘Wimpy Kid’: library data

by Stone Marshall | Jan 7, 2015 | Awesome Book News, parent-news | 0 comments

If you have a child with a Vancouver library card, there’s a good chance you have taken home a “Wimpy Kid” book in the past couple of years.

Data from the Vancouver Public Library reveals that the nine-book series by Jeff Kinney dominates the lists of most checked-out children’s titles, with “Wimpy Kid” books taking the top two spots for each of the past three years.

At The Vancouver Sun’s request, the VPL provided data on the most popular adult, young adult and children’s books for 2012, 2013 and 2014.

If you’re on a mobile device, please click here to see the chart.

According to the data, adult books typically remain popular for only a short time.

For example, “Death Comes to Pemberley” by P.D. James, the most popular adult book in 2012 with 1,893 total checkouts, didn’t even make the Top 20 in 2013. Similarly, “The Casual Vacancy” by J.K. Rowling — 2013’s top book with 1,558 checkouts — is nowhere to be found on this year’s Top 20, which is instead topped by Khaled Hosseini’s “And The Mountains Echoed” (1,356 checkouts to date).

In contrast, the data reveals that kids and teens have far more consistent tastes, going back to the same trilogies and book series again and again.

Four of the Top 10 most checked-out children’s books in 2014 were “Wimpy Kid” titles, led by “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck” which was checked out a total of 1,995 times.

And while the exact title has changed from year to year, “Wimpy Kid” books have been the most checked-out kids book, and the second most checked-out, for each of the past three years. And in 2012, the top three books were all “Wimpy Kid” titles.

Julia McKnight, a children’s librarian at VPL, said the “Wimpy Kid” series — written in the style of a middle-school kid’s hand-written diary — seems to really resonate with younger readers.

“I think kids can really put themselves into the story,” she said.

While not nearly as popular as “Wimpy”, Rick Riordan’s “Heroes of Olympus” series and Lincoln Peirce’s “Big Nate” series have also been consistently popular among young library goers, taking several spots among the Top 20 each year.

McKnight said younger readers, more so than adults, seem to gravitate to the familiar when making their reading choices, which helps explain the popularity of book series.

“They develop a familiarity with the setting and they bond with the characters,” she said. “Even when kids get attached to a stand-alone title, they tend to come back to the library saying, ‘Can you give me more like this?’”

Like their younger siblings, teens’ taste in books has also been pretty consistent in recent years, the data shows.

The three books in Suzanne Collins’ “Hunger Games” trilogy — “The Hunger Games”, “Catching Fire” and “Mockingjay” — were the three most checked-out young adult books in both 2012 and 2013.

However, Collins has some competition this year from Veronica Roth, whose book “Allegiant” — the third title in her “Divergent” trilogy — took the top spot with 1,171 total checkouts. The other two titles in Roth’s trilogy, “Divergent” and “Insurgent”, were also in the top five this year.

The data suggests teens’ reading habits are heavily influenced by what is in movie theatres.

The popularity of the Collins’ books roughly coincides with the release of the “Hunger Games” movies beginning in 2012. And the only “Hunger Games” book to remain in the Top 5 this year — “Mockingjay” — is the subject of this year’s movie.

Similarly, Roth’s surging popularity is likely due to the release of the first “Divergent” movie in March.

Aside from Roth and Collins, the data shows that Cassandra Clare’s “Mortal Instruments” series of fantasy novels and Pittacus Lore’s “Lorien Legacies” series of science fiction books have also been consistently popular among teen readers over the past three years.

VPL said it does its best to keep up with demand for popular titles, typically ordering one copy for every six people on the waiting list for a book.

It also keeps a close eye on the condition of its books, as they tend to deteriorate the more times they are checked out.

“The Diary of a Wimpy Kids books get destroyed pretty fast,” said McKnight. “We are constantly having to check those titles for condition and get new copies of them.”

“Diary of a Wimpy Kid” author’s better dream

by Stone Marshall | Jan 7, 2015 | Awesome Book News, parent-news | 0 comments

Talk about an unlikely story: A failed cartoonist writes a book for adults that ends up on the CHILDREN’S best-seller list! Unlikely or not, it’s the story our Rita Braver has to tell:

“I think that every family road trip longer of more than about three hours is a nightmare family road trip,” Kinney said of his new book. “I think I got the cover image just right, which is Greg in the way-back of the minivan under a pile of luggage. Every time I show that to kids, they say, ‘That’s me, I’ve been there.'”

“Greg” is Greg Heffley, perpetually stuck in middle school, as he puts it, “with a bunch of morons.” He’s always being embarrassed by his parents, and he’s got two awful brothers: the nasty older one, and the tattle-tale toddler.

Greg is a very nervous, sneaky, fearful and bullied and bullying protagonist.

Braver asked the author, “Why have someone as a main character who’s not the least bit heroic?”

“When I was writing ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid,’ I was actually reading Harry Potter,” said Kinney. “He is brave, he is magical, he is powerful. And I wasn’t any of these things as a kid. So I wanted to create a character who was more like I was.”

“Were you a wimpy kid?”

“I was an average kid, but I had very wimpy moments,” he replied.

Jeff Kinney grew up outside Washington, D.C., dreaming of becoming a cartoonist. He actually created a successful comic strip, called Igdoof, for the University of Maryland’s campus newspaper.

But when he tried to land a cartooning job after graduation:

“I went through about three years of sending out submissions and then getting rejected,” he said, “so it was really kind of soul-crushing.”

He got a day job designing online games. Then on the side, he started writing and illustrating “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

But it wasn’t FOR kids.

“In fact, the first draft was 1,300 pages long,” Kinney said, “and it was meant to be sort of a primer or a nostalgia piece for adults.”

He worked on that draft for eight years.

Braver asked, “Why didn’t you give up?”

“Because I was prolonging the rejection, in a way,” he laughed. “Part of it was, you know, just putting off the inevitable for me.”

Still, in 2006 at a comic book convention, he showed a short excerpt to an editor from Abrams Books, mostly known for its elegant volumes on art.

“And then he just looked at the first page — he didn’t read anything at all — and he said, ‘This is exactly what we’re looking for, and this is why we’re here,” Kinney recalled. “And then he said, ‘It’s going to be for kids.” And believe it not, that was a huge shocker to me at the time. Never for a second in the eight years I was working on ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ did I think that I was writing for kids.”

But when “The Wimpy Kid” was marketed to a young audience, it took off beyond Kinney’s wildest dreams.

“I’ll never forget when The New York Times list came out, and I had made the list,” Kinney said. “I couldn’t believe it. My wife and I were jumping up and down on the bed, and in fact, it stayed on the list for more than five years straight. I pinch myself every day!”

“It was surprising, it’s still surprising to us,” said Kinney’s wife, Julie. “Every now and then we’re like, ‘How did this happen? Why did it happen? This is nuts!'”

Nuts or not, Julie and their sons, Will and Grant, seem to take it all in stride — even the fact that Jeff has been an executive producer of three films based on the series.

To stay close to his readers, Kinney travels all over the country, turning up at places like Edward Molin School in Newburyport, Mass., where everyone seems to be a fan.

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For Your Lil’ Readers: What to Read After ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’

by Stone Marshall | Jan 6, 2015 | Awesome Book News, parent-news | 0 comments

It is hard to find a kid who has not succumbed to the charms of The Wimpy Kid series, so if they need a new book to devour, how about one that features a troll – in middle school! Now don’t worry, I wouldn’t steer you wrong. This is a twisted take on the fairytales that any kid who loves to laugh will enjoy.

Don’t forget to visit my website at www.onegreatbook.com for more books that will satisfy your kid’s book cravings after they have finished Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Title: Life of Zarf

Author:Rob Harrell

Target:Grades 3-7

Series: This is the first book in a planned series

What this book is about:
Zarf is a troll who is doing his best to survive middle school. This school is ruled by the princes and princess followed a close second by your knights and fair maidens. Of course your wizards and witches are bit geeky but trolls, well they are on the bottom rung. An incident between Zarf and Prince Roquefort leads to a duel (with nerf lances of course) and it ends up landing Zarf in the dungeons. The only way restore his dignity is to find the king (who has mysteriously disappeared) but Zarf is not exactly the brave and noble type, or is he?

Why I love this book:
This book has been described and Shrek meets Wimpy Kid, and an apt description it is. Zarf is appealing and hysterical as he tries to make the best of his rather low social standing. Of course when you have friends such as the jester’s son, who can’t tell a joke to save his life and the little pig who can’t get enough mutton, well the laughs keep coming. I can’t imagine a kid not giggling through this one.

You also have to read this book if you want to know the fate of Goldilocks! Can anyone say lunch lady?

Who this book is for:
Kids who like Wimpy Kid will eat this one up. Large type, appropriate content and pictures throughout make this book suitable for younger readers as well as middle school kids.

Final thoughts:
I love the fairytale twist to this story, but with ogres and dragons, don’t worry, this isn’t Cinderella!

I am a mom of three with a passion for literature! No matter what book series our kids devour, as they come to an end, we as parents ask the inevitable question – what is next? I am ever on the job, trying to answer that question. I try to do it with a variety of books. Some are silly, some true to life, some pure fantasy, but in the end I hope they make my children love words, explore new ideas, and laugh!

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