Greg Heffley has been keeping his journal since 2007, and the series is now long enough that working out what comes next is a genuine chore — the covers are deliberately similar and the spine numbers are not always obvious.

Here is the whole run in order.

The short answer

Start with the first book and read by number. The spin-offs narrated by Rowley can be read at any point once your reader knows the characters.

Does the order matter?

Less than most series. Each book is a self-contained school year of small disasters, and there is no ongoing plot to lose track of. A reader who starts in the middle will be fine.

What does change is Greg. The early books are broader and sillier; the later ones lean more on his obliviousness as the joke. Reading in order makes that drift visible, which is part of the pleasure for an older reader.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid books in order

  1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid
  2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid
  3. Rodrick Rules
  4. The Last Straw
  5. The Last Straw
  6. Dog Days
  7. The Ugly Truth
  8. Cabin Fever
  9. Cabin Fever
  10. The Third Wheel
  11. Hard Luck
  12. The Long Haul
  13. Old School
  14. Double Down
  15. The Getaway
  16. The Meltdown
  17. Wrecking Ball
  18. The Deep End
  19. Big Shot
  20. Diper Överlöde
  21. No Brainer
  22. Hot Mess
  23. Partypooper

The Rowley books

Jeff Kinney also writes as Rowley Jefferson, Greg's relentlessly cheerful best friend — the Awesome Friendly Kid books. They retell events from Rowley's side and are funnier if you already know Greg's version, so save them until a few books in.

Is it worth it?

For a reluctant reader, enormously. The cartoons carry the pages, the vocabulary is unforced, and finishing one builds the appetite for the next. It is one of the few series where owning a dozen is a reasonable plan rather than an indulgence.

Greg is not a role model and the books know it. That gap between how he sees himself and what is actually happening is the joke, and most readers over about nine get it without being told.

Keep browsing

Every book above has a page in our catalog. In the same vein, try our Dog Man reading order or the wider books for reluctant readers list.