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Interview: Jeff Kinney Speaks to Two Young Readers About Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid!
Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid: Rowley Jefferson's Journal: From the Creator of Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Jeff Kinney
Hardcover
$13.99
Ships in 1-2 days.
Rejoice, Wimpy Kid fans, for the Wimpy Kid universe has expanded! Thanks to the brand new addition of Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid, we now have a window into Rowley’s perspective of events (and Greg. And events caused by Greg). Legendary author and illustrator Jeff Kinney was kind enough to answer a few questions from our own intrepid kid interviewers, Addison, age 10, and Cooper, age 7.
Addison: I’ve always wondered what Rowley is thinking so it’s so cool that we get to read about his life in his words. I also like their friendship a lot—do you have a best friend like Rowley? Is he based on anyone in your life?
Jeff Kinney: I did have a best friend, but he wasn’t a lot like Rowley. However, we did the same sorts of things that Greg and Rowley did… we played video games, made comics, had sleepovers, and sometimes, we fought. I recently reconnected with my best friend from growing up and it was really fun to talk about the good times we had as kids.
Cooper: My best friend and I laugh so much together. When he laughs, he snorts. Do you snort when you laugh? What kind of things make you laugh?
Jeff Kinney: I think I recently did snort. It was the first time for me. I’m glad it doesn’t happen often. But if I had a best friend who snorted when he laughed I’d try to get him to laugh all the time.
Addison: Where did your original idea for a Wimpy Kid first come from? Were you like Greg when you were younger?
Jeff Kinney: My idea for Diary of a Wimpy Kid came from my experiences as a kid. I wanted to write about what childhood was like for me. And yes, I was like Greg when I was younger, and I’m like him now, too. But mostly just in my thoughts, not in my actions.
Cooper: Did you always like to draw? I can draw an awesome dragon. But it kind of looks like a lizard. Or maybe a dog. What’s your favorite thing to draw?
Jeff Kinney: I did always like to draw. I think I have Attention Deficit Disorder, which makes it very hard for me to concentrate when someone else is talking (like, say, a teacher). So I’d always draw in class. I still do it now if I’m in a meeting.
Addison: If you could have any other job in the world, besides your cool job, what would it be?
Jeff Kinney: Well, I’d have a job that I have right now, which is a bookstore owner. I love to invite authors to our bookstores and to hear their stories. So I think I’d be very happy in that job if I wasn’t an author myself.
Cooper: I’m going to be an inventor. Anything you want me to invent for you?
Jeff Kinney: Yes, I would like for you to invent a machine that makes my favorite candy, in its original recipe before they changed it.
Addison: What did you do to celebrate when your first book came out? Did you go to a Japanese Steakhouse? That’s what we do on our birthdays and it’s awesome.
Jeff Kinney: I was so happy when my first book came out that I wanted to fill up a bathtub with my books and swim around in it. Is that too weird? If it is, maybe you can delete this question. Maybe just put the Japanese steakhouse thing here instead.
Cooper: What’s the most stressful part of writing a book? I get tired after writing only 2 pages. Do you drink a lot of coffee?
Jeff Kinney: The most stressful part is trying to write a book that my readers deserve. I’m very lucky as an author… my books reach millions of kids. So I feel the pressure of trying to be funny for kids who have read my books, and for kids who haven’t yet.
Addison: If your characters were real, would you want your kids to be friends with them?
Jeff Kinney: That’s a great question! Rowley, yes. Greg… well, sometimes. He’s a little more complicated. But I like that Greg is creative and he’s a big thinker.
Cooper: I’d be friends with them, they are hilarious sometimes. But I would get a lot more tallies at school. Did you get in trouble in school?
Jeff Kinney: I didn’t get in trouble a lot, but I did do *some* things that I’m not proud of. When I was a safety patrol, I had a snowball fight with another safety patrol, and a bunch of kindergartners watched us from inside the school. I put that in one of my books.
Addison: All right, one last question for you. What’s the coolest place you’ve gotten to travel to from writing the books? And what did you get to eat there?
Jeff Kinney: There have been so many cool places! I think my favorite place so far was Latvia. We went around Christmastime, and so I ate lots of gingerbread.
Cooper: Addison is kind of obsessed with food, if you haven’t noticed. My last question—what invention do you think has been the coolest ever made?
Jeff Kinney: The coolest invention ever made was the hover board. I ride one around in my studio every day.
Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid is on B&N bookshelves now!