The company that represents the Diary of a Wimpy Kid brand recently won a temporary restraining order against the publisher of two Wimpy Kid-parodying graphic novels: the "Wimpy Zombie" series by Fred Perry and David Hutchison. According to Publishers Weekly, the zombie books strongly resemble the originals, and their publishers didn't include a "parody" stamp.

I'm sorry for Mr. Kinney and all... but I'm so relieved they've run out of ways to "improve" upon Jane Austen. Way to move on to fresh blood, parody publishers! But you might want to hire a lawyer—unlike Jane Austen, living authors are lot more likely to sue.

Labels: Jeff Kinney, Law, satire

If you're a Diary of a Wimpy Kid fan in the East Coast/Midwest area, be sure to check out Amulet Books' second annual ice-cream-truck promo tour. According to Publishers Weekly, the tour...

"[...Begins] August 15 and runs through August 28. Each truck will have 26 events, with stops that take them up and down the East Coast and into the Midwest. One truck will visit bookstores in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois; the second will stop in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Ohio, Michigan, Ontario, and Vermont. Purple ice cream treats (to match the cover of the new book) will be given away at each event; for every treat, Abrams will donate one children’s book to nonprofit organization First Book."

Um, that sounds great and all, but I like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and I like ice cream (even purple ice cream). I, however, live on the West Coast. Why is Amulet stiffing us like this?

Labels: Jeff Kinney, Promotions

NPR's "All Things Considered" featured an interview and Q-and-A session with Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney yesterday. Both were fun, but I was even more interested in the interview that followed, with Books4YourKids.com blogger Tanya Turek. Turek was invited on the show to discuss parents' concerns about their children over-identifying with Kinney's lazy, selfish, totally self-absorbed main character, Greg.

Turek is a good interview, and she gives some solid general advice to parents whose children are old enough to make their own choices about reading, but I seriously had no idea that people were worried about this. I mean, does any kid want to act like Greg? He's hideous! Kids laugh at him, not with him. It would be like wanting to emulate Adrian Mole. I'm sorry, but this seems like unnecessary pearl-clutching to me...

Labels: Interviews, Jeff Kinney, other websites