Diary of a Wimpy Kid – The Last Straw

Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid The Last Straw is a very funny diary for 9 year olds about a boy whose dad is fast running out of patience.

What happens

It's New Year, and Greg Heffley has made his resolution. He's already one of the best people he knows, so he's going to help everyone ELSE improve instead. (Mum's crisp-chewing is first on his list.)

Dad has other ideas. He'd like a son who goes outside, plays sport and doesn't nap the second he gets home from school. So Greg gets signed up for football with a coach who shouts a lot.

Then Dad bumps into the teenage troublemaker from down the street, home from military school with a crew cut and lovely manners. Can you guess where this is heading?

Greg's plan is to dodge all of it. He becomes backup goalie because goalies don't run laps. He picks the Scout troop with the pool parties. And he keeps trying to get Holly Hills to notice him (which goes about as well as you'd expect).

Reading it is a bit like borrowing a real boy's notebook. Nearly every page is handwriting on lined paper with a cartoon or two, and lots of the jokes are in the drawings.

Speech bubbles, BIG capitals and short diary entries keep it moving. A child who'd normally groan at a page of solid text can get through this on their own, and quickly.

Greg is such good company because he's so sure he's right. He writes unsigned Valentine's cards telling the whole class what he REALLY thinks of them, then makes a rude one for himself so nobody suspects him. He whispers one silly made-up word to his little brother in church, and the whole family ends up walking out of the Easter service.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

Greg isn't always kind, and the book doesn't pretend he is. His big brother Rodrick's April Fool's jokes mostly involve hurting him, and Greg digs up money he buried in a time capsule to spend on sweets.

There's plenty of underpants and bottom humour too. If your child copies everything they read, you might want to chat about Greg's choices as you go. For most readers, him getting it wrong is exactly the fun.

What to read next

This one comes third in the series. Greg introduces his family as he goes, so it's fine to start here. If your reader would rather meet Greg and his friend Rowley from the start, try the very first Wimpy Kid book.