Since the release of Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the multimodal, middle-grade diary book has gained popularity. The series features “handwritten,” journal entries and drawings and has elicited many imitators, the most prominent of which is Rachel Renee Russell’s Dork Diaries. While the diary form is not new to children’s literature, these series reinvent the established conventions through drawings and supplementary online environments. Both series are routinely identified as for reluctant readers; however, their diversity of form actually leads to complex reader engagement. My purpose is to refute the idea that the books are useful only as precursors to “better” books. I will do this by exploring the popularity of these books, by examining the types of reading the books ask for, and by showing how they encourage innovative writing experiences. Ultimately, the series demonstrate how texts for child readers are changing to fit a dynamic literacy landscape.
","abstract_html":"<p>Since the release of Jeff Kinney’s <em>Diary of a Wimpy Kid</em>, the multimodal, middle-grade diary book has gained popularity. The series features “handwritten,” journal entries and drawings and has elicited many imitators, the most prominent of which is Rachel Renee Russell’s <em>Dork Diaries</em>. While the diary form is not new to children’s literature, these series reinvent the established conventions through drawings and supplementary online environments. Both series are routinely identified as for reluctant readers; however, their diversity of form actually leads to complex reader engagement. My purpose is to refute the idea that the books are useful only as precursors to “better” books. I will do this by exploring the popularity of these books, by examining the types of reading the books ask for, and by showing how they encourage innovative writing experiences. Ultimately, the series demonstrate how texts for child readers are changing to fit a dynamic literacy landscape.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Rickard, Rachel Lee"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"English Language and Literature","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Ramona Caponegro, PhD, Chair","Annette Wannamaker, PhD"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-03-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2014-03-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:57Z","subjects":["diaries","literacy","children's literature","Children's and Young Adult Literature"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/569","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Ramona Caponegro, PhD, Chair","Annette Wannamaker, PhD"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Rickard, Rachel Lee"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-05-05T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English Language and Literature"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["diaries","literacy","children's literature","Children's and Young Adult Literature"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/569"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Since the release of Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the multimodal, middle-grade diary book has gained popularity. The series features “handwritten,” journal entries and drawings and has elicited many imitators, the most prominent of which is Rachel Renee Russell’s Dork Diaries. While the diary form is not new to children’s literature, these series reinvent the established conventions through drawings and supplementary online environments. Both series are routinely identified as for reluctant readers; however, their diversity of form actually leads to complex reader engagement. My purpose is to refute the idea that the books are useful only as precursors to “better” books. I will do this by exploring the popularity of these books, by examining the types of reading the books ask for, and by showing how they encourage innovative writing experiences. Ultimately, the series demonstrate how texts for child readers are changing to fit a dynamic literacy landscape.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Wimps, dorks, and reluctant readers: Redefining literacy in multimodal middle grade diary books"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Ramona Caponegro, PhD, Chair","Annette Wannamaker, PhD"],"dc:creator":["Rickard, Rachel Lee"],"dc:date.available":["2014-05-05T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Since the release of Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the multimodal, middle-grade diary book has gained popularity. The series features “handwritten,” journal entries and drawings and has elicited many imitators, the most prominent of which is Rachel Renee Russell’s Dork Diaries. While the diary form is not new to children’s literature, these series reinvent the established conventions through drawings and supplementary online environments. Both series are routinely identified as for reluctant readers; however, their diversity of form actually leads to complex reader engagement. My purpose is to refute the idea that the books are useful only as precursors to “better” books. I will do this by exploring the popularity of these books, by examining the types of reading the books ask for, and by showing how they encourage innovative writing experiences. Ultimately, the series demonstrate how texts for child readers are changing to fit a dynamic literacy landscape.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/569"],"dc:subject":["diaries","literacy","children's literature","Children's and Young Adult Literature"],"dc:title":["Wimps, dorks, and reluctant readers: Redefining literacy in multimodal middle grade diary books"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English Language and Literature"],"thesis:degree_level":["Open Access Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:57Z"}