[LM_NET] Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (book four)

[Pamela Thompson <pthomp@SISD.NET>]

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
by Jeff Kinney
Amulet Books, 2009.
217 pages

The fourth book in the Wimpy Kid series is a real joy. Jeff Kinney keeps the 
laughter coming with Greg Heffley's summer vacation--which turns out to be no real 
vacation at all. Greg recounts the grisly story of the muddy hand which can travel 
mysteriously across the United States and sneak up on unsuspecting middle school 
boys and kill them! His fear of the muddy hand causes much anxiety and sleep loss, 
until he finds a way to sleep with his entire face under the covers. He spends one 
night sleeping in the bathtub with all the bathroom lights on. Ridley, Greg's older 
brother, is his devious, bullying self. Greg's mom tries to start a Reading is Fun 
club for all the neighborhood children, but only has one member by the second 
meeting--Greg, of course!

Greg is terrified to go to the public pool, not because he's afraid of water, but 
because he's afraid of having to enter the pool area through the men's showers! 
Greg says, "The first time I walked through the men's locker room at the town pool 
was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life." The illustration with this 
statement shows really hairy men showering in a "common" shower and Greg looking 
mortified. Kinney's illustrations are spot on, and readers who enjoy a good joke 
will love this book.

Recommended for all collections, grades 4-up. Recommended for reluctant readers.

Just posted to my blog at http://booksbypamelathompson.blogspot.com/


Pamela Thompson, MLIS
Library Media Specialist
Col. John O. Ensor Middle School
13600 Ryderwood
El Paso, TX
915-937-6018
pthomp@sisd.net<mailto:pthomp@sisd.net>

visit my YA novel blog at http://booksbypamelathompson.blogspot.com/


"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog is too dark to 
read." --Groucho Marx

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