Diary of a Wimpy Kid
by Jeff Kinney
Top 25
A middle schooler records his misadventures in a diary full of doodles. Funny, relatable, and famous for getting reluctant readers to read. Read the full description
Best for: Ages eight to twelve, especially reluctant readers
Diary of a Wimpy Kid is #19 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 78 out of 100.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: reading interest over the past 12 months
Sources: Open Library’s public reading-log and ratings data (dump of 2026-08-31), Wikipedia page views and Wikidata. Monthly counts are exact; they show relative interest among readers of these public sources, not total readership.
Ranked against the other books on this list, Diary of a Wimpy Kid’s reading interest has run from #9 to #28 over these 12 months. Interest rank blends shelf adds, Wikipedia page views and rating activity, each compared with the other 99 books that month.
Shelf adds by month
Diary of a Wimpy Kid was added to Open Library readers’ shelves 1,374 times in the past 12 months, peaking in September 2025 with 216 (89% above its monthly average of 114). Over the latest three months (Jun 2026 to Aug 2026) shelf adds were down 40% on the three months before. 82% of the adds were “want to read”, 10% “currently reading” and 7% “already read”.
Want to read Currently reading Already read
Wikipedia page views
Its Wikipedia article was viewed 604,658 times in the past 12 months, peaking in December 2025 with 62,550 views. The latest three months were down 12% on the three before.
Source: Wikimedia monthly page views for the article Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
What the data says about Diary of a Wimpy Kid
- Moderate swings. Monthly shelf adds averaged 114 with some ups and downs.
- Busiest and quietest months. September 2025 was its busiest month (216 adds), about 3.7 times its quietest, July 2026 (59).
- Against its genre. It had 111% more shelf adds than the average Children book on this list.
- Share of the list. It accounts for 1.3% of all shelf adds recorded for the Top 100 over these 12 months, #17 of 100.
- Its age. First published in 2007 (19 years ago), it is older than 45% of the books on the list.
Each finding is computed from the public data above and shown only when the numbers support it.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid on the Top 100: rank history
First charted in September 2026. The chart gains a point with every monthly update, so its peak, climbs and falls will show here as they happen.
| Month | Rank | Score |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | #19 | 78 |
Is Diary of a Wimpy Kid rising or falling?
Holding steady Its weekly, monthly and yearly ranks are close together, so interest is steady rather than spiking.
On Open Library, Diary of a Wimpy Kid ranks #25 this week, #28 this month, and #21 over the past year. A longer bar means a higher position. Comparing the three windows shows whether readers are arriving faster than the book's long-term pace. Readings as of 2026-09-30.
Why Diary of a Wimpy Kid made the Top 100
Diary of a Wimpy Kid made the list mainly on momentum (+31 points) and being read right now (+22.2 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+0). The BookWard Score blends five public signals, each scored from 0 to 100 and weighted as shown.
The reading-now, rating and rank signals come from Open Library’s public data, not from BookWard’s own readers. The score measures reading interest, not quality or sales. How the score works.
Open Library reader stats for Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Source: Open Library public reading logs, as of 2026-09-30. BookWard’s own monthly snapshots are added to the picture, and anonymous BookWard reader data will be layered in as the community grows.
More readers have Diary of a Wimpy Kid open right now than 82% of the other books on this list. These counts come from one public source, so they show relative interest rather than total readership.
Where it sits among Children books
It is #2 of the 5 Children books on this month’s list.
About Diary of a Wimpy Kid
A middle schooler records his misadventures in a diary full of doodles. Funny, relatable, and famous for getting reluctant readers to read.
Why it’s here: It gets kids reading, which is reason enough to include it.
Best for: Ages eight to twelve, especially reluctant readers
At a glance
- First published
- 2007-04-01
- Genre
- Children
- Also described as
- humorous fiction, children's fiction
- Length
- about 224 pages (the median across its editions)
- Original language
- English
- Languages
- editions in 23 languages listed on Open Library
- Editions
- 96 on Open Library
- Setting
- School, Home
- Characters listed
- Greg Heffley, Rodrick Heffley, Manny Heffley, Susan Heffley, Frank Heffley
From Open Library and Wikidata public records. Missing rows mean the records do not list that fact.
Themes
- Middle school life
- Friendship and embarrassment
- Humor
What reading it is like
An illustrated journal in a cartoon style. A very quick read.
At about 224 pages it is a medium-length read: roughly 4 hours at an average reading pace (about 250 words a minute, 300 words a page). Audiobook and edition lengths vary.
Good to know
First of a long series of illustrated novels, popular with reluctant readers.
The premise
Greg Heffley records his middle-school misadventures in a journal full of cartoons. He wants to be popular, and his schemes rarely go as planned.
What you’ll get
- Funny, doodle-filled pages
- Great for reluctant readers
- Easy to finish in one sitting
You might skip it if you want a traditional chapter book.
Pairs well with: Dog Man
Keep exploring the chart
Also on the chart at #18 and #20
Questions about Diary of a Wimpy Kid
What rank is Diary of a Wimpy Kid on the Top 100 books?
Diary of a Wimpy Kid is #19 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 78 out of 100.
Is Diary of a Wimpy Kid rising or falling?
Holding steady. Its weekly, monthly and yearly ranks are close together, so interest is steady rather than spiking. On Open Library, Diary of a Wimpy Kid ranks #25 this week, #28 this month, and #21 over the past year.
Why is Diary of a Wimpy Kid on the Top 100?
Diary of a Wimpy Kid made the list mainly on momentum (+31 points) and being read right now (+22.2 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+0).
How many people are reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid right now?
Open Library's reading logs show 619 readers currently reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid, 6,509 who want to read it and 603 who have logged it as read (as of 2026-09-30). These are counts from one public source, not all readers.
How much interest has Diary of a Wimpy Kid had over the past year?
1,374 Open Library shelf adds in the past 12 months (peak September 2025, 216); latest three months down 40% on the prior three; 604,658 Wikipedia views in the past 12 months (down 12% over the latest three months). Figures come from Open Library and Wikipedia public data.
Who is Diary of a Wimpy Kid best for?
Ages eight to twelve, especially reluctant readers.
Ask a question about Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Ask about this book's chart history, reading interest, or who it is for. Answers come from this page's data and can be wrong.
Answers are AI-written from BookWard’s own help content and can be wrong. Please do not share personal information: questions and answers may be saved and, if they are useful, shown on this site without your name.
How we know
This page is built from public data: Open Library’s dated reading-log and ratings dumps, Wikipedia page views, Wikidata, and BookWard’s own monthly Top 100 snapshots. The interest rank blends shelf adds (45%), Wikipedia page views (30%), rating activity (10%) and, for months where a snapshot exists, BookWard’s own score (15%), each as a percentile among the Top 100 books. Every month shown is real data; nothing is estimated. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Last updated September 2026. Read the full methodology.
Track Diary of a Wimpy Kid and find your next favorite
Add it to your shelf, rate what you have read, and BookWard will recommend what fits you.
Free while in beta. No credit card needed.