Do you let your kid read Diary of a Wimpy kid?

[Anonymous]

DS is 8-years old and a strong reader. He loves the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Unfortunately, his attitude towards school and his classmates seems to have nosedived since he started reading these books. He parrots phrases from the books, like “Everyone in my school is a moron except me.” He may just be experimenting with different phrases and testing limits, but it is still disturbing.

The main character is a pretty nasty, self-centered kid. The series seems targeted towards older kids, as it’s about a seventh grader.

DH thinks as long as DS is reading and enjoying it, we should leave him alone. I think the books are proving to be a negative influence.

Would you let your eight-year-old read these books?

[Anonymous]

Yes. My son read these books in Kindergarten and we let him read them because he enjoyed it - even though some of the concepts were over his head (he had no idea what "detention" was, for example). I think it's ok as long as you reinforce that the inappropriate phrases/themes are not ok.

[Anonymous]

I'm with DH. I love those books. It doesn't get any better than his brother's band being called "Loded Diaper."

Why don't you read them together with your kid?

[Anonymous]

Yes, but also have an 8 year old and very very tired of the language. I've thought about stopping them. When he was younger we did take away as in K-1 it was completely not appropriate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. My son read these books in Kindergarten and we let him read them because he enjoyed it - even though some of the concepts were over his head (he had no idea what "detention" was, for example). I think it's ok as long as you reinforce that the inappropriate phrases/themes are not ok.

Just had to slip in a brag there, huh? classic DCUM.

[Anonymous]

we had this issue with junie b books. was shocked the school recommended them.

[Anonymous]

We read the first couple with our DS and then he's read the rest on his own, we aren't too worried about the inappropriateness - it could be Captain Underpants (insert eye roll).

I think the good outweighs the bad with these series who are clearly geared toward boys of this age - if it makes them love reading, then it's worth it!

[Anonymous]

Kids have moved way past this series, for the most part, by the time they are in 7th grade. It may be about middle schoolers, but younger kids are the ones reading them.

My kid read the series in elementary school, and I viewed them as the candy of the book world- fine as long as he was reading more high quality books as well.

My kid isn't that impressionable, though. If he were picking up bad habits from a book I would put the kibosh on it.

[Anonymous]

Nah. I really don't like them. I get that they're for kids, but there are SO MANY fantastic options that I can't justify these.

DS sometimes brings them home from the school library and has read a few, but he's not a huge fan either.

I disagree that just because your kid enjoys something, you let him/her do it. There are some obnoxious TV shows that I discourage.

[Anonymous]

My 8 year old got into them and I was just glad he was reading! That said, he does not pick up rude comments and behavior from them.

[Anonymous]

I have hesitant, stubborn readers. I let them read pretty much anything they choose, as long as they sit down, read, and FINISH the book. I don't notice bad habits forming from Diary of a Wimpy Kid books (or any other books for that matter). I think there are kids in school who say dumber things and all kids will choose to parrot those silly expressions from time to time. It's usually meaningless. It's also a fun way to get to say moron, which he likely knows he'll never get legit permission to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. My son read these books in Kindergarten and we let him read them because he enjoyed it - even though some of the concepts were over his head (he had no idea what "detention" was, for example). I think it's ok as long as you reinforce that the inappropriate phrases/themes are not ok.

Just had to slip in a brag there, huh? classic DCUM.

PP here. I wasn't trying to brag, there are a lot of parents of early readers on DCUM. I mentioned his age to show that I let my kid read the books at an earlier age than OP's kid - so I clearly would let my 8 year old read them. No big deal. It's not so impressive to have an early reader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We read the first couple with our DS and then he's read the rest on his own, we aren't too worried about the inappropriateness - it could be Captain Underpants (insert eye roll).

I think the good outweighs the bad with these series who are clearly geared toward boys of this age - if it makes them love reading, then it's worth it!

See, I'm the PP who discouraged Wimpy Kid. I much preferred Captain Underpants. Better written and funnier. Wimpy Kid is just unpleasant.

I think you should just go with what you're comfortable with. Every family has different opinions, and each kid is different. I HATED some of those My Weird School books also because the characters were so damn rude.

[Anonymous]

I don’t really like those books but I allow my kids to read whatever they want, even if I’m not thrilled about it. We talk about the books like Diary of Wimpy Kid if I don’t want them repeating the stuff or whatever.

[Anonymous]

It's hard for me to believe this is a serious post. If you think Wimpy Kid is inappropriate, then I can't imagine what would be appropriate that any kid would want to read.