Today we got word from Abrams Books that a Diary of a Wimpy Kid balloon will debut in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. More than 50 million people will watch the parade on TV, in addition to 3.5 million in person—and one lucky reader will win the opportunity to be part of that crowd. A sweepstakes launched today by Abrams will give one winner and three guests a Thanksgiving trip to New York City and VIP grandstand tickets to view the parade.
There are 37 million copies of the Wimpy Kid books in print in the United States alone, and I know many readers are getting very excited for the Nov. 9 release of Jeff Kinney’s fifth book in the series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth.
BookPage will mark the occasion with an interview in our November print edition. Contributor Alice Cary recently talked to Kinney at his home in Massachusetts, and though you can’t read her full report just yet, she gave us a preview of her visit and shared a few BookPage-exclusive photos.
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Cary reports:
I headed to southern Massachusetts a few days ago to visit Diary of a Wimpy Kid author/illustrator Jeff Kinney. Five million copies of his new book, The Ugly Truth, will hit stores in November, prompting much excitement among fans—and great secrecy from Kinney’s publisher, Abrams, about the contents of the book.
Despite all of this fame and buildup, Jeff Kinney seems to be the nicest, most relaxed guy you’ll ever meet. CNN was expected later in the day to film him, but Jeff appeared to have all the time in the world to visit with me. He admits that, at times, all the hoopla around his books doesn’t feel real, and he certainly had some interesting stories to share.
All photos (c) copyright 2010 Alice Cary.
Jeff Kinney draws on the tablet in his hands, and Greg H. appears on his computer screen.
Kinney at his office desk, where he works. The walls are purposely bare so he won’t be distracted.
Kinney in his office. The closet contains a lot of drawing pads!
(That’s what those stacks are near his hand.)
Kinney signing books in his office. This is the spot where he sits for hours to think up ideas for the books.
Who is excited for The Ugly Truth?!
Also in BookPage: Check out our illustrated Q&A with Jeff Kinney.
This is great! I didn’t know about this website til Alice posted it on Facebook, so now I’ll be a devoted follower. Fun to see Jeff in his workspace, inspiring to see how down-to-earth he is. Can’t wait to see the full interview.
I can’t wait to buy this for my grandson (age 10). After he reads it he’ll pass it on to his mom,
his grandmother (me) and his two aunts. Now his
little brother is reading them also. We love
“The Wimpy Kid”!
the movie The Ugly Truth is an interesting movie and i really love Katherine Heigl ..
actually, i watched this movie twice because i sort of laughed a lot on the ugly truth movie “-:
jeff kinney is a best selling author and he is my favorite author.