Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
- For the film of the same name, see Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (film)
| Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days | |
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| Author(s) | Jeff Kinney |
| Illustrator | Jeff Kinney |
| Cover artist | Jeff Kinney |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Diary of a Wimpy Kid |
| Genre(s) | Comedy |
| Publisher | Amulet Books, Puffin Books |
| Publication date | October 12, 2009 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback, Hardcover) |
| Pages | 217 |
| ISBN | 978-0-8109-8391-5 |
| Preceded by | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw |
| Followed by | Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth |
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days is a realistic fiction novel written by American author and cartoonist Jeff Kinney, the fourth book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series [1] It was released on October 12, 2009 in the USA and October 13, 2009 in Canada.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The summer that Greg is going to have will be his worst summer ever beginning with him and his best friend Rowley Jefferson going to his country club after school closes for the summer, but Greg is kicked out, because he complained of even the smallest predicaments. Then the beach trip that he was looking forward to is canceled because the Heffleys don't have any money; the Heffleys resort to going to the town pool, which Greg dislikes because of its open showers showing large, hairy men.
Later, Greg and Rowley have a sleepover together, and watch a horror movie, called Hello, You're Dead, taken from Rodrick's room. After the movie, Greg and Rowley soon became paranoid on account of a muddy hand that might strangle them, since the hand came right toward the screen before the end. Soon, Susan starts a reading club called "reading is fun" club in which Greg is the only participant after two days, because she found out about Greg watching the horror movie. The reading program, however, is put to a stop when Mr. Jefferson arrives with a huge bill that Greg and Rowley spent on fruit smoothies at the country club, and he forces Greg and Rowley to pay it off.
Greg and Rowley decide to do a lawn care service called the "V.I.P. lawn care service" to pay the debt, but they can only make after Mr. Jefferson told them they cannot use his computer. Their first customer is Mrs. Canfield, who lives on Greg's grandmother's street. Unfortunately, the job ended as a fiasco when the boys fu never used a lawn mower before. When Greg tells Rowley he has to do most of the work while Greg holds the money, that made Rowley angry and he quits. Greg mows Mrs. Canfield's lawn by himself, but she refuses to pay him because he didn't mow all of her lawn. The money is paid off, however, when Susan confiscates Greg's money earned at his birthday.
The Jeffersons later invite Greg to go to the beach with them, which is where Greg had wanted to go, but he realizes it wasn't what he expected, where he begins to have a breakdown from no electronics, almost got jumped by teenagers he pulled a prank on, and especially the Cranium Shaker, a ride Greg really wanted to go on, which, however, makes him sick. The first night Rowley and Greg both refuse to sleep on the shag carpet, so Greg tries to sleep beside Rowley. Greg tries to entertain himself, but he is sent home after he snaps a rubber band at Rowley.
Susan later tries to get Greg's dad and Greg together, but both of them realize that they should keep their distance. She even got them tickets for a baseball game, but Greg thought Frank was trying to get rid of him and sell him to Fregley for the incident that happened earlier, and calls the police on him using his Ladybug, (A birthday gift that Greg got earlier) only embarrassed to discover the truth, Sweetie (The Heffley Dog Frank brought earlier in the book) is to be given to Greg's grandmother for company after her old dog Henry died. To get out of the game they gave the two cops their tickets. However, they both hate much of the same things, such as a comic named Li’l Cutie, where the writer has retired and passed it on to his son and has made the comic even worse. The book ends with Greg looking in Susan's album, titled "Best Summer Ever", which is an inaccurate record of Greg's summer, but he says that the person who takes the pictures is the one who gets to tell the story.
[edit] Background
[edit] Franchise
Dog Days is the fourth book in the book franchise. The first book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, was released September 5, 2007 has sold in its top 150, peaking at number 8, for 141 weeks as of April 4, 2010. The sequel, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules was released February 1, 2008, and has been on the list for 117 weeks (peaking at number 4). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw was released January 13, 2009, has been on the list for 65 weeks (peaking at number 1). Dog Days' sequel, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth was released November 9, 2010. The sixth book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever was released on November 15, 2011.
[edit] Reception
At the time of Dog Days publication, The New York Times Best Sellers had the book peaking at #1 for all 25 weeks of publication, making Dog Days the #1 Best Selling Book of 2009. [2]
[edit] Adaptations
[edit] Film
The third Diary of a Wimpy Kid film is based on Dog Days and the preceding book, The Last Straw.[3] A few of the scenes are from Dog Days, however most of them are from The Last Straw.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ "Diary of a Wimpy Kid ::: by Jeff Kinney". Wimpykid.com. 2007-12-13. http://wimpykid.com/. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
- ^ Dixler, Elsa. "The New York Times Best Sellers: Children's Books". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/books/bestseller/bestchildren.html. Retrieved May 7, 2011.
- ^ "Third "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" movie starts filming". All Headline News. August 20, 2011. http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90056744?Third%20%26quot%3BDiary%20of%20a%20Wimpy%20Kid%26quot%3B%20movie%20starts%20filming. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
- ^ Kinney, Jeff. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (series). Amulet Books.
[edit] External links
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