Jeff Kinney

Jeff Kinney is the #1 New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of the wildly popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, which has sold over 300 million copies worldwide and been translated into more than 70 languages. The series follows the everyday misadventures of middle schooler Greg Heffley, whose illustrated journal entries capture the trials and triumphs of adolescence with humor and authenticity that resonates with readers of all ages.

Born February 19, 1971, in Fort Washington, Maryland, Kinney grew up in the Washington, D.C. area and attended the University of Maryland, where he created the comic strip "Igdoof" for the campus newspaper. His dream was to become a newspaper cartoonist, but after unsuccessfully trying to get his comic strip syndicated, Kinney began working as an online game designer. In 1998, he started developing ideas for Diary of a Wimpy Kid, spending eight years crafting the characters and stories before showing them to anyone.

The breakthrough came in 2004 when Kinney published the book online at Funbrain.com in daily installments, attracting about 70,000 visitors each day and receiving nearly 20 million views by 2007. When readers demanded a printed version, Kinney signed a multi-book deal with publisher Harry N. Abrams. The first Diary of a Wimpy Kid book was published in April 2007 and became an instant bestseller. Since then, the series has expanded to include 20 main installments, including popular titles like The Last Straw, The Third Wheel, and Hard Luck, along with activity books and movie diaries.

The series has remained on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 800 weeks and has won numerous awards including six Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for Favorite Book and two Children's Choice Book Awards. In 2009, TIME magazine named Kinney one of the World's Most Influential People. The books have been adapted into both live-action films (2010-2017) and animated films (2021-present), with Kinney serving as executive producer and screenwriter.

Kinney also created the Awesome Friendly Kid spin-off series featuring Rowley Jefferson, Greg's best friend, which includes Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid: Rowley Jefferson's Journal (2019), Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Adventure (2020), and Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories (2021). Additionally, Kinney is the creator of Poptropica, a kid-friendly gaming website that was named one of TIME's 50 Best Websites.

In May 2015, Kinney and his wife Julie opened "An Unlikely Story," an independent bookstore and café in Plainville, Massachusetts, where he currently resides with his family. Kinney is an advocate for reading as an alternative to screen time and continues to inspire young readers with stories that blend humor, heart, and hand-drawn illustrations in a format that has captivated millions of children and adults worldwide.