Twenty-Two Publishers to Release Worldwide;
Hilarious New Story Tops Phenomenal 10th Anniversary Year;
Bestselling Author Jeff Kinney to Continue Global Tour
LONDON, 30th March 2017 – More than twenty international publishers will once again publish and release Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Book 12 in the phenomenally successful children’s book series. An all-new original story by bestselling author Jeff Kinney, the book will go on sale in the UK and around the world in November 2017. Readers won’t be able to stop laughing as they join Greg and his family on a holiday trip to remember. To escape the stress of the holidays, the Heffleys decide to get out of town and go to a resort instead of celebrating Christmas at home. But what’s billed as a stress-free vacation becomes a holiday nightmare. As the most anticipated book of the year, tens of millions of fans around the world eagerly await this newest volume.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Book 12, will go on sale for publishing houses in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, Turkey, Greece, China, Japan, Brazil, Spain, Catalonia, Romania, Portugal, Hungary, Sweden, Latvia, Norway, Taiwan, Israel, and Korea. A new teaser image accompanies this press release.
“I’ve traveled quite a bit over the last few years, and I’ve realized there’s a ton of comedic potential in airplane travel,” says Jeff Kinney. “And when a family like the Heffleys is involved, the possibility of something going hilariously wrong multiplies.”
This new book follows the enormous international acclaim of Book 11, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down, which debuted at the top of bestseller lists around the world and was one of the top-ranked titles of the year. There are now more than 180 million copies of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series in print globally.
“This year marks a very special milestone in this incredibly popular and original superbrand, as we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the publication of the first Diary of a Wimpy Kid book. Very few series indeed have achieved such phenomenal global success, or turned so many children onto books, enticing even the most reluctant of readers,” says Francesca Dow, MD of Penguin Random House Children’s.
“We couldn’t be more excited at Puffin because this will be one of our biggest Wimpy Kid years yet, with a new film release, a brand new Wimpy Kid Movie Diary and in November the publication of the twelfth book in this bestselling series. We are so proud to be part of this international publishing event, as we bring Jeff’s new book to as many readers and fans as possible, around the world, and at the same time”.
Kinney will continue his global tour throughout 2017. He is currently in Italy doing events, and will travel to Amatrice to do a school presentation and hear from students whose lives were impacted by the earthquake. Kinney’s international travels for Book 11, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down, were met with excitement around the globe as Kinney continued on his worldwide tour to meet and greet international readers. Working closely with publishers on more than 20 stops on three continents, Kinney was featured in major media outlets, met thousands of fans at sold-out events, and experienced local cultures.
The fourth annual Wimpy Kid Month begins on 1st April 2017, and is a celebration of reading, writing, and all things Greg Heffley. Beginning with April Fools’ Day and ending with the reveal of the cover of the latest book, people everywhere will celebrate Wimpy Kid’s ability to get kids hooked on reading through events, social media, and much more. On 27th April the cover will be revealed to a live audience of Wimpy Kid fans at Carnegie Hall in New York, and through a webcast that will be presented live worldwide. It will then be available on www.youtube.com/wimpykid
On 18th May, Penguin Random House Children’s, will publish an entirely original movie diary from Jeff Kinney, The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary: The Next Chapter, just in time for the release of the 20th Century Fox film Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul. Three movies based on the book series have grossed more than $225 million.
For further information please contact:
Sophia Rubie, Publicity Manager, Penguin Random House Children’s,
SRubie@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk or 020 7139 3598
Notes to Editors:
Kinney’s work has been widely praised for its ability to turn reluctant readers on to books. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series has been a permanent fixture high up in the UK Nielsen Bookscan Charts as well as the USA Today, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. Wimpy Kid has been sold in more than 62 editions in 53 languages and appears on bestseller lists around the world. There are now more than 180 million books in the series in print around the globe.
Jeff Kinney has won six Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, two Children’s Choice Book Awards and last year Diary of a Wimpy Kid was voted by schools in the UK as the most popular book in primary schools in the annual What Kids are Reading Awards.
The first-ever theatrical adaptation of Diary of a Wimpy Kid was staged by the prestigious Minneapolis Children’s Theatre Company from April to June 2016. It earned rave critical reviews and had sold out shows. Three movies based on the book series have grossed more than $225 million.
Wimpy Wonderland Island on poptropica.com, a virtual world for kids, remains one of the most visited pages on the popular website.
Before the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books were published, stories from the first three books appeared digitally for free on the website www.funbrain.com, where they are still available. Books in the core series by Jeff Kinney include Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2008), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (2009), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw (2009), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2010), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth (2010), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever (2011), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel (2012), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck (2013), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (2014), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School (2015) and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down (2016). Jeff Kinney has also written and illustrated The Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book and The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary.
Fans can interact with the brand at www.wimpykidclub.co.uk on Facebook at WimpyKidBooksUK and on the YouTube.com/WimpyKid channel which has over 6 million views and over 32,000 subscribers.
