Elsie's Reviews > Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Personal reaction-I loved this book. I thought the author did a fabulous job portraying children and their fears of middle school. Children always wonder about the prospects of the future and the exciting new experiences middle school can offer a student. This book was a fun read even as an adult because of the experiences we can remember dating back to our middle school years.
Read Aloud- As a teacher, I would use this book to teach students about character development and the changes that characters undertake within the story. Greg is used to being the weak student of the school. However, students will classify Greg as being a hero towards to end of the book. This is an example of a dynamic character. This is a great technique for children to learn and then identify characteristics about the characters. I would suggest children from second grade until fourth grade reading this entertaining book.
Independent reading- Teachers are generally able to pick out the students who aren’t as ‘popular’ in the classroom compared to others. I would suggest this book to children that generally felt left out, or even the students that act more timid than the others. This book could be a new beginning for a child. Greg can open the eyes of many students just like him. Greg becomes a new person throughout this story which is great for children to learn to be different that who they thought they always were.
Diverse perspectives- Within schools all over the world, the differences between students grow larger and larger. You can have multiple children in one classroom that do not share any similarities with one another yet, you can have other students that are almost identical with their interests. This book introduces a new perspective for students. Whether a student is considered the ‘popular’ one or the ‘wimp’, children can relate to the characters of this book and develop a new outlook of their fellow peers.