Sima ✨'s Reviews > Partypooper

Reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid at an older age made me realize that the series can go in a surprisingly problematic direction. I read many of the earlier books when I was younger, and my English wasn’t strong enough then to understand the implications behind certain scenes. But with this newly released book, the issues became very obvious, and honestly a bit concerning, especially since the books are targeted toward children.

Troubling Message About Body Image

At the beginning of the book, there is a scene that felt deeply uncomfortable. Greg says:

“Mom said she didn’t feel comfortable with me playing with toys that have unrealistic body types because they make kids feel bad about themselves. The thing is, I never felt bad about my body until she said that, and I haven’t looked in the mirror the same way ever since.”

This refers to Greg playing with action figures — big, muscular, exaggerated male bodies. And Greg himself explains he never felt insecure until his mother pointed it out.

This is troubling because:
• Children do not naturally think about body insecurities in the way adults do.
• They don’t compare themselves to toys unless someone explicitly tells them to.
• By introducing the idea early, the adult creates insecurity instead of protecting against it.
• The scene unintentionally shows how adult interference can give a child a complex they otherwise wouldn’t have had.

It highlights that sometimes adults project their fears onto kids, and those comments can influence a child’s self-perception long before they are developmentally ready to think about body image. The book plays this for humor, but the underlying message is strangely insensitive and uncomfortable for a children’s story.

Greg’s Treatment of Rowley

One of the biggest issues is the portrayal of Greg and Rowley’s friendship. In this book, Rowley barely speaks and doesn’t get to do much, but whenever he appears, Greg’s attitude towards him is mean, dismissive, and borderline abusive. Their friendship constantly flips between “we’re friends” and “we’re not,” but it becomes clear that Greg mainly sees Rowley as someone he can use when he needs something.

Example: The Bouncy House Scene

Near the end of the book, there is a moment when there is no pump to fill a bouncy house and says:

“Luckily, Rowley arrived to help us set up, so I put him on bouncy house blow-up duty while I took care of more important things.”

This is:
• unrealistic (no child can literally blow up an entire bouncy house),
• irresponsible (where are the adults preventing this?), and
• harmful in its message (Greg prioritizes himself and treats Rowley like labor, not a friend).

It feels damaging because kids reading this may think this behavior is funny or acceptable.

This isn’t even a new issue — it reflects a long-standing pattern. I’m reminded of the earlier movie/book where:

• Rowley breaks his arm and gets attention,
• Greg becomes jealous, especially when his crush signs Rowley’s cast,
• Greg ends up breaking his own arm but gets no attention at all.

This jealousy and unhealthy competitiveness are portrayed as normal middle school behavior — which is true to some extent — but in these books it’s taken so far that it becomes problematic, especially when young readers don’t fully understand the underlying toxicity.

Children’s literature doesn’t need to be moral lessons all the time, but it also shouldn’t be careless in the messages it gives, especially when the target audience is so young and impressionable.

While I understand that Diary of a Wimpy Kid is meant to be silly and exaggerated, this new installment made me realize how easily it can reinforce toxic behaviors as “comedy.” As an adult reader, I can now see that some parts are not just harmless fun but actually reflect unhealthy relationships, especially in how Greg treats Rowley. This has made me reconsider letting my siblings continue the series without guidance or discussion.