Below is the complete list of Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid books in order. For this series, the chronological reading order is the same as the order of publication.
Publication Order of Diary of a Wimpy Kid Books
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2007)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid was published in 2007 and is listed as book #1 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. - Rodrick Rules (2008)
Published in 2008, Rodrick Rules is listed as book #2 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. - The Last Straw (2009)
The Last Straw is a 2009 release and appears as book #3 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. - Dog Days (2009)
In the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Dog Days is book #4 and was published in 2009. - The Ugly Truth (2010)
The Ugly Truth was first published in 2010; within the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, it is listed as book #5. - Cabin Fever (2010)
Cabin Fever was published in 2010 and is listed as book #6 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. - The Third Wheel (2012)
Published in 2012, The Third Wheel is listed as book #7 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. - Hard Luck (2013)
Hard Luck is a 2013 release and appears as book #8 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. - The Long Haul (2014)
In the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, The Long Haul is book #9 and was published in 2014. - Old School (2015)
Old School was first published in 2015; within the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, it is listed as book #10. - Double Down (2016)
Double Down was published in 2016 and is listed as book #11 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. - The Getaway (2017)
Published in 2017, The Getaway is listed as book #12 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. - The Meltdown (2018)
The Meltdown is a 2018 release and appears as book #13 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. - Wrecking Ball (2019)
In the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Wrecking Ball is book #14 and was published in 2019. - The Deep End (2020)
The Deep End was first published in 2020; within the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, it is listed as book #15. - Big Shot (2021)
Big Shot was published in 2021 and is listed as book #16 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. - Diper Överlöde (2022)
Published in 2022, Diper Överlöde is listed as book #17 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. - No Brainer (2023)
No Brainer is a 2023 release and appears as book #18 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. - Hot Mess (2024)
In the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Hot Mess is book #19 and was published in 2024. - Partypooper (2025)
Partypooper was first published in 2025; within the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, it is listed as book #20. - Fight or Flight (2026)
Fight or Flight was published in 2026 and is listed as book #21 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.
Publication Order of Wimpy Kid Non-Fiction Books
- Diary of a Wimpy Kit Do-It-Yourself Book (2008)
Published in 2008, Diary of a Wimpy Kit Do-It-Yourself Book is listed as book #22 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. - The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary (2010)
The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary is a 2010 release and appears as book #23 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. - Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book Journal (2013)
In the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book Journal is book #24 and was published in 2013. - Greetings from Wherever You Are (2014)
Greetings from Wherever You Are was first published in 2014; within the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, it is listed as book #25.
Publication Order of Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid Books
- Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid (2019)
Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid was published in 2019 and is listed as book #26 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. - Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Adventure (2020)
Published in 2020, Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Adventure is listed as book #27 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. - Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories (2021)
Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories is a 2021 release and appears as book #28 in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.
About Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is one of the most durable children’s publishing successes of the last two decades, but its appeal is easier to explain than its scale. On the official series site, the books are described as Greg Heffley’s record of the trials and triumphs of friendship, family life, and middle school, and that really is the core of it. Greg is not a fantasy hero, a child detective, or a chosen one. He is a kid with a large ego, shaky judgment, and a gift for making ordinary problems worse. That is what makes the books work. They turn the humiliations of growing up into comedy without pretending childhood is especially noble.
Publication order matters here because, even though each book has its own central disaster, the series is not completely static. Greg’s family, friendships, school life, and running grudges carry forward, and part of the fun is watching certain patterns repeat in new ways. The books are episodic, but they also build a familiar comic world: Rowley, Rodrick, Manny, Greg’s parents, the dreaded Cheese Touch, and the endless small humiliations of being Greg Heffley. Read in order, the series feels less like a pile of interchangeable joke books and more like a long comic portrait of one kid’s stubborn refusal to become wiser as quickly as life keeps demanding it.
The series also has a very specific formal identity. Kinney’s mix of handwritten-style text and cartoon drawings is not just a visual gimmick. It controls the pacing, sharpens the punchlines, and lets Greg’s voice feel immediate in a way that a more conventional middle-grade novel would not. These books read quickly, but that quickness is part of the craft. Kinney wanted to be a cartoonist before becoming a children’s author, and that background helps explain why the books feel so precisely timed on the page. Greg’s narration depends on visual undercutting: what he says, what the drawing reveals, and the gap between how he sees himself and how ridiculous he actually looks.
Another reason publication order is the best fit is that the series is still ongoing. The official Wimpy Kid site currently presents Hot Mess as book 19 and Partypooper as book 20, released on October 21, 2025. That matters because the series is no longer just a nostalgic early-2000s phenomenon. It is an active long-running children’s sequence that has kept finding new situations for Greg while preserving the same comic personality that made the first book work. The world expands only gradually, but the staying power comes from consistency: Greg remains recognizably Greg, even as each new book finds a fresh angle on family chaos, school embarrassment, vacations, hobbies, or social disaster.
What makes Diary of a Wimpy Kid last, though, is not just the format or the jokes. It is the exact tone Kinney found. The books are funny without becoming sweet in a fake way. Greg is selfish, jealous, lazy, and often hilariously wrong about himself, but he is never so cruel or unreal that the series loses its grounding. Readers recognize the social panic underneath the jokes: wanting to look cool, wanting things to go your way, wanting to avoid embarrassment, wanting life to be easier than it is. Greg is exaggerated, but not by much. That is why the books feel so re-readable. They are not really about school plots or single incidents. They are about the permanent comic indignity of being a kid who thinks he deserves better treatment from the universe than the universe plans to give him.
For readers who already have the list above, the best way to think about Diary of a Wimpy Kid is as one long-running comic record of Greg Heffley’s talent for turning normal childhood into avoidable catastrophe. Read in publication order, the series lets its running jokes, family patterns, and character rhythms build naturally. The books may look light, and they are wonderfully easy to read, but the structure is stronger than it first appears. Kinney created a voice, a format, and a comic worldview that can keep carrying Greg forward, one bad idea at a time.