No Brainer: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (18)

By Jeff Kinney

Reviewed by Sandhya Parappukkaran and Thomas

In addition to having a permanent place on the New York Times bestseller list, I’m sure these books have helped many developing readers become permanent book lovers. The highlights of this series apart from being a diary format with no chapters, are the large and bold type text that looks like neat handwriting, plenty of white space on every page and the simple but engaging illustrations.

The main character Greg has been journalling his middle grade and home experiences. While the books are laugh-out-loud funny with hilarious and cringey scenarios that kids will love and relate to, they also cover the tough issues that kids face every day, including fitting in, friendship woes, bullying, dealing with schoolwork and home life. It must be the outrageous humour and Greg, being so relatable that keeps this book series fresh and loved by kids.

Sandhya Parappukkaran 

Review by Thomas, age 10 

What is this book about?  Greg Heffley’s school is losing money and students are getting bad marks which results in the school closing down. This means that Greg and his friends must move school to either the fancy Fulson Tech or their arch nemesis school, Slacksville.

Who is your favourite character? My favourite character is Greg.

Why you like him?. So much bad stuff happens to Greg, even when he thinks things are going to be alright and he just deals with it.

What was the most interesting/exciting/suspenseful moment in the story? When Greg heard that he was going to be sent to Slacksville instead of Fulson Tech.

Did this story make you laugh/cry/want to throw it across the room? It made me laugh. When Greg was about to lose his friend because he had to go to a different school, it made me sad.

Would you have changed anything in the story and why? No. The whole story is perfect.

To whom would you recommend this book? I’d recommend it to those who like to read about a school where lots of things go wrong and the teachers are strict and strange.

Did you like the illustrations? The illustrations are simple but are incredibly cool.

How many stars out of five? 4

Interesting fact about yourself? I can skip 100 times in a row.

Puffin 2023