Today, globally loved children’s author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Jeff Kinney, launched a nationwide diary writing competition at an event with over 600 excited school children at Newcastle’s Civic Centre.
The event was part of Kinney’s global tour for the thirteenth book in the series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown, where a snow storm shuts down Greg Heffley’s middle school and turns his neighbourhood into a wintry battlefield. Each child who attended the event was gifted a copy of The Meltdown.
This contest, titled Wimpy Kid Diary Writing Competition, is run by us and Penguin Random House to tie in with the publication of The Meltdown. It launches alongside our new analysis which reveals that children’s enthusiasm for diary writing is at an all-time high; in 2018, 3 in 5 (57.6%) children aged 8-11 say they write a diary, compared to just 1 in 3 (35.4%) in 2010; an increase of 64%.
The Wimpy Kid Diary Writing Competition challenges children aged 7-12 from across the UK to write a 500-word diary entry about the most exciting snow day they have ever had or could possibly imagine.
Children who submit their entries by Thursday 31 January 2019 will be in with a chance to win a Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown print signed by Jeff Kinney and £100 worth of Puffin Books, plus £500 worth of Puffin Books for their school. Ten runners up will each receive a signed copy of The Meltdown.
There will be free teaching resources, activities, top tips and posters available from Monday 19 November to help teachers bring the competition to life in their classroom, and to encourage children to emulate the iconic style of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books in their entries.
“I loved comic strips as a kid, and comics helped me to become an avid reader. I liked the idea of creating a format that might make reading accessible to kids in a similar way to my own experience with comics, so I started writing Greg Heffley's adventures in a diary. I’m thrilled that the diary writing competition will promote writing as well as reading and I hope it'll help inspire kids who may have had fewer opportunities to develop a love for both.”
Jeff Kinney, Diary of a Wimpy Kid author