The windy city? More like the Wimpy city, according to Wellington City Libraries’ most borrowed books list. Here’s the author’s message to his fans in the capital.

Greg Heffley, Rowley Jeffersen, Fregley, Gammie, “Cheese Touch!” 

No idea what we’re on about? Just ask a Wellington child roughly between the ages of five and 15 and they’ll be able to explain, in detail, what those terms mean to the universe of Jeff Kinney’s multimillion-copies-sold, bestselling series Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

RNZ reported in December that all 10 spots in Wellington City Libraries’ list of most-borrowed books from the children’s section in 2025 were taken by Kinney’s Wimpy Kid titles. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Greg Heffley’s Journal was the number one most-borrowed book, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel the 10th. In between those two were eight other Wimpy titles: in other words, a total Wimpy takeover. 

In Auckland, the kids were all about Geronimo Stilton and Dog Man by Dav Pilkey (and one lone David Walliams title haunting the list just as the news broke that Walliams was dropped by his publisher over alleged inappropriate behaviour). No Wimpy Kids to be seen.

I surveyed one Wimpy Wellingtonian who lives in my house. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid is funny,” he said. “They’re better than Dog Man. Where’s my Hot Mess? I want to read it again.”

Kinney first started publishing Wimpy Kid as a comic, very loosely based on his own childhood experiences in Maryland in the US, in daily instalments on funbrain.com in 2004 before he finally signed a multi-book deal in 2006 to turn the comics into a book. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2007) was an instant bestseller and since then Kinney has published 19 other Wimpy books, almost one annually (not to mention activity book spinoffs and the like). More than 300 million copies of the Wimpy Kid books have been sold worldwide. 

Over the years, Kinney has given hundreds of interviews about his writing process and the imaginative spark that brought Greg Heffley (the titular Wimpy Kid) to life. Kinney knew early on he wanted to be a comic artist and he drew on his own upbringing to create Heffley’s world. Wimpy Kid is told through a now iconic blend of text and Lowry-esque black and white drawings, and infused with the kind of awkward humour that awkward ages relate to. Kinney has been open about having ADHD long before the rise in ADHD awareness and diagnoses, and has said that it is, for him, both an impediment and a superpower: “It allows me to jump the tracks in my thinking, which is essential in writing humour,” he wrote in The Guardian in 2016. “Rather than try to correct my condition, I strive to harness it.” 

The phenomenal success of a saga about a kid trying to survive school, family and friendship has made Kinney an extremely famous and sought-after author with a wonderfully interactive website (you can “Wimp Yourself” and your family) and live appearances scheduled all over the world. In publishing circles, Kinney is widely regarded as one of the good sorts: famously generous to his millions of fans. 

Nevertheless, when The Spinoff contacted Kinney to let him know that down here in Aotearoa there is a capital city full of kids keen enough to stuff the libraries’ annual top 10 most-borrowed book list full of Wimpy Kids, we thought a response was a long shot. 

We were wrong. Here is Kinney’s letter to the Wimpy Kids of Wellington:

Dear New Zealand Wimpy Kid fans –

I hope you’ve had a great holiday and that you’re looking forward to 2026.

My 2025 was great – and that’s thanks to you! Imagine my surprise when I was told that the ten most borrowed kids’ books at the Wellington City Libraries were all Wimpy Kid titles!

That’s amazing, and it made me feel so happy. I’ve been writing for a long time, but the fact that my books are still finding an enthusiastic audience on the other side of the world from me is both motivating and energizing.

I’ve been to New Zealand a few years back, and I loved every second of my trip there. I’m hoping that sometime in the near future, I’ll be back in your part of the world, and I’ll get to meet my fans, who have been so supportive and kind to me.

In the meantime, I hope you read everything you can get your hands on – and not just my books!

There are so many new authors to discover, and so many new worlds to explore.

Thank you again for this incredible honor!

Jeff Kinney