“Persevere and you will succeed.” It is a phrase attributed to the Roman philosopher and orator Lucio Anneo Seneca. It’s a saying that fits perfectly with Jeff Kinney, a computer programmer who dreamed of becoming a newspaper cartoonist. Rejected hundreds of times because nobody liked his work, he set about creating his own diary, in written form with pictures interspersed. His childhood dream had its big turning point in 1998 at the age of 27 when he thought about telling the story of a frail teenager telling illustrated stories from his life. In May 2004, he began posting a daily online version of his creation on the Funbrain website, naming it “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”. Eight years of work went by before he decided in 2006 to show his work to a publisher. Abrams Books liked what he saw, and he signed a multi-book deal to adapt his character into a print series. The rest is history.
Seventeen years later, Jeff Kinney (Maryland, USA, age 52) has become a bestselling author with more than 275 million copies sold worldwide, making Diary of a Wimpy Kid the fourth-best selling book series of all time. The American cartoonist, who traveled to Mexico, Colombia and Peru to present volume 17 of his work entitled “Supertörcidos”, never thought that the saga, distributed in Latin America by Penguin Random House, would be so popular.
“I signed three books and I thought that was a lot. I extended my contract to five, then ten, and it kept growing. I realized that cartoons are like a promise to the reader, a promise that they will always be there. So now I’m not really ashamed because I have so many books. “I think every Christmas, kids wait for a new episode of Diary of a Wimpy Kid to come out, and it’s a nice tradition,” author EL PAÍS said in a room at Hotel Condesa DF during his promotional tour in Mexico -City . .
Greg Heffley is the lead actor. An unprecedented prepubescent, mischievous, with many questions, dissatisfaction and misunderstandings towards the adult world, emerging from one mess to get into another, an idiot who records his experiences and misadventures in texts and cartoons in his diary. “It’s just an exaggerated version of myself,” says Kinney with a smile. He believes he and Greg think alike, which has made it easier for him to write about his character. The inspiration for the first books came from his childhood and memories. She has learned from Greg that she can be a more flawed person than she thought. And that’s not bad.
Jeff Kinney holds a copy of his book The Diary of a Wimpy Kid in Mexico City. Aggi Garduño
Kinney wanted to portray an 11-year-old boy as he is without categorizing him with the good and bad that people of that age can have. He doesn’t consider him an “anti-hero,” as many journalists or critics have praised Greg, he’s just “normal,” he insists. “I think we all want to see representations of ourselves in our books. Children and the protagonists of literature are often like miniature adults. You are perfect. In Harry Potter and many other works, we have a kind of heroic child who mostly does the right thing. I wanted to create a counterpoint to this character to make it more realistic and give the kids a chance to say, ‘Oh yes, that’s me,'” she adds.
Growing up, Kinney was inspired by cartoonists such as Charles M. Schulz, Bill Watterson, and Carl Barks, creators of characters such as Snoopy, Calvin & Hobbes, and Rico McDuck. Using illustrations of the “minimalist” type, “using a few lines to get the point across”, that is, a “simplified version” of his natural cartoon style, the creator of Greg has addressed issues such as the physiological changes that come with greater responsibility , the first party for girls and boys, trying to excel in a sport or, as for some in their last volume, the dream of being part of a heavy metal band.
Kinney, who has a college degree in criminology, is adept at computers, and at some point in his life had ideas about becoming a federal agent, bears the blame for getting generations of children and young people to read. His work has been translated into 69 languages by 2023. The FBI may have lost a capable agent, but literature has gained a mass idol. Every trip and every meeting with his fans is a unique experience. “It’s crazy. It’s like I can’t quite grasp it. Everywhere I go I see little kids, new readers, but also adults, 20-year-olds, people who grew up with my books. It’s a great privilege to be able to reach so many people, especially so far from home,” he says.
At home in the town of Plainville, Massachusetts, when he’s not overseeing film adaptations or writing a screenplay for an animated series of his works — available on Disney+ — Kinney runs his bookstore, An Unlikely Story (probably), in where he has received authors like John Grisham, actresses like Elizabeth Olsen or political figures like Hillary Clinton. “It’s one of the best parts of my life,” admits the co-author, who enjoys reading about modern American politics in his spare time.
Jeff Kinney shows some illustrations in one of his books. Aggi Garduño
He is no stranger to the current moment in his country, where the ultra-conservative agenda of some politicians, like that of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, has promoted legislation banning certain types of literature in schools and bookstores, with prison sentences of up to five years or License revocation for teachers and librarians who do not comply with the norm. Such situations, which at one point you thought were temporary, now feel “permanent” and bother you.
“These are very difficult times. It makes me angry. In America, I’m a privileged white man. I see myself reflected in books and what conservatives are doing right now is successfully banning people who live differently, who are part of the LGBTQ community, from shelves and bookstores. The impact on children who are not part of the ‘conventional’ can be very devastating because it’s really important for mental health that this is reflected in the literature,” says the cartoonist.
Kinney, who was named one of Time magazine’s 2009 100 Most Influential People Alive, also commented on the recent literary controversy over the rewriting of Roald Dahl’s books to make them more “inclusive.” This led many to question whether it was censorship or political correctness. He believes the initiative was “well intentioned” but the arguments are complicated. The cartoonist says that one can try to update a text or simply keep it alive and that it is understood as a work that responds to a time, but he also understands the perspective of the publishers, the classics like Matilda or The Witches want to read every year. And don’t stack.
In this sense, are there topics that should not be dealt with in children’s literature? “I don’t think I know the answer. I think our art should provoke. It’s designed to spark conversations, and sometimes difficult ones too,” he affirms, with a calm temper and a touch of melancholy, for these are his last hours in Mexico. He appreciates the impact of his work all the more and, despite all the success, is still in disbelief. “It was an excellent trip. It was my first time here [en el país]. “A very meaningful experience,” he concludes gratefully.
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