Jeff Kinney's - Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series - Sold 150 Million Copies Worldwide (The Long Haul)

With the November 4 publication of the next Diary of a Wimpy Kid book, The Long Haul, Jeff Kinney's series will surpass 150 million copies in print worldwide. The Long Haul, ninth in the series, will carry a 5.5 million–copy first printing.

The series started off online on Funbrain.com in 2004 and made its print debut in April of 2007. There are now more than 75 million copies of Diary of a Wimpy Kid books in print in 41 different languages.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney didn’t grow up wanting to be a children’s author. His dream was to become a newspaper cartoonist, but he wasn’t able to get his comic strips syndicated. In 1998 Jeff came up with the idea for Diary of a Wimpy Kid, a story about a middle-school weakling named Greg Heffley. Jeff worked on his book for almost eight years before showing it to a publisher in New York.

A family road trip is supposed to be a lot of fun . . . unless, of course, you’re the Heffleys. The journey starts off full of promise, then quickly takes several wrong turns. Gas station bathrooms, crazed seagulls, a fender bender, and a runaway pig—not exactly Greg’s idea of a good time. But even the worst road trip can turn into an adventure—and this is one the Heffleys won’t soon forget.



Grab a chapter here: http://www.wimpykid.com/books/book9/

The Long Haul is out on...
United States - 4th November
United Kingdom - 5th November
Singapore - 5th November
South Africa - 5th November
Australia - 5th November
India - 5th November

Book Review: David O'Connell - Monster and Chips

                                 

Somewhere in suburbia, or maybe smack-bang in the middle of your city, there is a very special diner. What’s so special about it? Well it does the best chips ANYWHERE but also its customers are a little bit ‘unusual’… some people say they are monsters… The diner is hard to find, you have to look carefully, in fact some people say only a special kind of kid can find this special kind of diner. But maybe that kid could be you?

When Joe the ‘hooman’ gets a job at Fuzzby’s diner, he learns to bake zombie-cupcakes, exploding milkshakes and not to stare at the customers – even the ones who are see-through. He also foils a terrible plan to sabotage the annual Grand Cooking Competition.

Many thanks to David O'Connell for sending this image from the book.

All you need to brighten up your day is a little yellow book with a green monster on the cover and a little boy proudly holding up a plate of chips. You just know that when you turn to the very first page that everything is going to be fine and dandy. 

This is the first of a three book series which David has both written and illustrated. As soon as I started to read and interact with all of the cartoon-like illustrations, I was hooked. A small smile began to creep across my face. By the end of the book, it was a huge grin!

This is a great read for both the young and old. It's a chuckle a minute read that delves into the crazy and wacky tale of the Monster Diner. It's full of gastronomic delights for you to rustle up in your kitchen to feed your pet monster. However, the core of the story leaves you with a warm fuzzy glow. 

Fuzzyby, the chef, of the Monster Diner is a large as life character. He's the monsters answer to Jamie Oliver for sure. Although, hopefully, you won't find any of his recipes at your child's school as they definitely wouldn't be impressed!

This book serves up a great dollop of imagination and some great sketches too. This is a very enjoyable read - I'm sure that you will all agree. Roll on the next one please. Hmmm . . . time for a portion of chips I think!

Published by HarperCollins - 28 Feb 2013