So your child has become best friends with Nikki Maxwell. She’s telling you to “chillax” when you ask them to do something. And when they see a cute puppy they say it’s “ADORKABLE”!
These are all classic signs that your child has read everything Dork Diaries has to offer. Every diary entry, every doodle, every bit of drama with Mackenzie. And now they’re desperately searching for another book like Dork Diaries.
Where on earth do you start?
Well, first it’s pretty obvious to say but nonetheless important to note that there’s something so compelling about a diary, isn’t there? The whole ‘do not open’, padlocked element and well the fact that you’re not meant to read it makes you want to do the exact opposite.
Being a 90s baby, I was obsessed with the Americanised fantasy of laying belly down on my bed, fluffy pen in hand and writing in my plush pink diary about all the boys I fancied and mansions I was going to live in.
Unfortunately for me (or fortunately now I’m an adult), my reality was a lot more like Georgia Nicholson (IYKYK).
But, that is to say that if you ever kept a diary under your mattress (full of who you fancied and which friend you vowed to NEVER speak to again), you’ll know exactly why kids fall so hard for these books.
I loved choosing these books because it sent me right back to my Sleepover Club days. But this time it’s books like Dork Diaries that I think fans of these books will love. And if you fancy a look, they’re all on the funny books shelf.
How to spot a Dork Diaries book
Funny looks different for everyone. Which is probably why explore pages and algorithms can feel like you’re baring your soul to people.
Because (much to my husband’s dismay) not everyone thinks that a squirrel wearing a hat is hilarious.
But the Dork Diaries taps into a type of humour that’s so relatable to a child at a certain point in life which is exactly what makes these books so engaging.
Dork Diaries is a girl telling you her life in her own voice (usually mid-cringe). Friendship fallouts, crushes, a mean girl called Mackenzie, and a diary she’d absolutely DIE if anyone found.
The laughs come from how she sees things, not from big adventures. No saving the world. Just school, home, and the daily mortification of being a young girl.
So I’ve gone for funny books with a girl at the centre, a brilliant voice, and that same everyday-but-excruciating feel.
Five books like Dork Diaries to try next
The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks
The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks
Lottie Brooks is eleven and has decided her life is already over. She’s starting secondary school with no friends, no swooshy hair, and the horror of being too flat-chested for a bra.
Honestly, she’d rather hibernate with her hamsters and skip the whole thing (relatable).
This is the closest match to Dork Diaries there is. Same diary format, same cringing-but-hilarious voice, same friendship and crush chaos. If your reader loved Nikki, this by Katie Kirby is where to start.
The Lost Diary of Sami Star
The Lost Diary of Sami Star
Home is hard for a girl who feels completely invisible. Her family are too busy fighting to notice her, or her worries.
Then she finds a diary abandoned in the park, full of photos and snippets from the dazzling life of a girl called Sami Star. And she starts to feel like she’s finally found a friend.
It’s funnier and warmer than you’d expect, with a few moments of lump-in-the-throat throughout. This one’s by Karen McCombie.
Shrinking Violet
Shrinking Violet
Violet has finally grown tall enough to ride Plunger, the scariest roller coaster around. Biggest day of her life.
Then, right as she’s about to climb on, she shrinks to the size of a fish finger. Turns out she does this at the worst possible moments (which makes being eleven even harder than it already is).
Lou Kuenzler writes a funny girl narrator who is absolutely cracking. For the Dork Diaries reader who likes a bit of silliness on top of all the everyday stuff.
Ruby Redfort: Look Into My Eyes
Ruby Redfort: Look Into My Eyes
Ruby Redfort is a thirteen-year-old genius code-cracker, recruited by a secret crime-busting agency called Spectrum (her sidekick is the butler, Hitch).
She’s ice-cool in a crisis and very funny with it. The sort of girl who cracks the case with a catchphrase to go with it.
Lauren Child takes a step away from school-and-crushes into proper spy territory, a bit like a younger, funnier Alex Rider. But the sparky girl voice is bang on for a Dork Diaries fan who wants more plot.
Stargazing for Beginners
Stargazing for Beginners
Meg has her heart set on winning a competition to visit NASA, and she’s a real science geek.
Then her free-spirited mum vanishes for ten days to chase another Big Important Cause, leaving Meg holding the baby (literally, her little sister).
She knows how the universe was made. A baby, though, is a total mystery.
Jenny McLachlan writes the funniest and most heartfelt of the five, about a girl holding it all together. For the reader growing out of pure silliness who wants a bit more feeling.
A few more to keep them going
If they want more from the author of Dork Diaries herself, Rachel Renée Russell also writes the Max Crumbly books. Same comic style, this time with a boy stuffed in a locker.
And for more of the same, our books like Tom Gates list has the doodle-and-diary boys, while our books like Jacqueline Wilson list is more friendship-and-family side.
And if it’s the really silly, picture-stuffed stuff they want, our books like The 13-Storey Treehouse list goes there.
How Little Reads could help
There’s nothing better than discovering a book that genuinely makes you giggle. Apart from when a child discovers a book that makes them giggle.
That’s a gift that keeps on giving.
All of the books mentioned here are on the Little Reads app if you fancy giving any of them a go.
Don’t worry, there’s no ads, no pop-ups, just books.
But I should say that before you give Little Reads a go, it’s not there to teach reading.
It’s a library, not a lesson, so there’s no phonics and no levels to climb. It’s for kids who already love a book and just want the next one.
So if you’ve got a Dork Diaries fan who finishes one and is straight onto the next, that’s exactly who it’s for. If your child is only just getting going as a reader, something built for that will help them more right now.
You can start free with a Little Reads account (100+ books), and the full 3,000+ library is £7.99 a month with a 7-day free trial if you want the lot.