Comic novels: 7 alternatives to Greg's diary
22/1/2025
Translation: machine translated
After the pre-reading age comes a tricky moment: how do you get your children to stick their noses between the covers of a book of their own accord? Comic novels à la Greg's diary successfully bridge the gap between the world of pictures and the world of letters.
Before Christmas, I was delighted to discover several books on my nine-year-old son's wish list. He's at an age where pretty much any book that can captivate him is a good book. I would have expected Greg's Diary, because there has been no getting past Greg at this stage of his childhood for many years.
The author Jeff Kinney's recipe for success is a humorous mix of text and drawings that illustrate the stories from Greg Heffley's life and divide them into manageable reading chunks. Greg is an anti-hero who scratches the teenage itch and is "surrounded by idiots" but always looks stupid himself. The stories develop a pull that gives many children the wonderful feeling for the first time of not wanting to put a book down until it has been read.
Source: Michael Restin
What works well is of course copied. The graphic novel has now become a genre in its own right, which can accompany children right up to the Harry Potter age and caters to a variety of tastes.
Tom beats Greg
My son likes Tom Gates, a series penned by British author Liz Pichon, better than the original. Also in diary form and illustrated with plenty of drawings, several volumes were on his wish list. In fact, he could hardly wait to read them with unusual perseverance. When asked what was more exciting about Tom Gates than Greg's diary, he gave a whole range of reasons:
- Beautiful drawings that draw him more into the stories. Plus lots of "embarrassing pictures" and cheeky phrases. For example, Tom only calls his grandparents "the fossils".
- Funnier titles in the style of "I have a solution for everything (but it never fits the problem)" or "Bright madness (doesn't glow in the dark)".
- Tom is cheeky, regularly plays pranks and has arguments with his big sister Delia. Although he also gets into trouble himself, he is not an outsider like Greg, who is placed in the wimpy corner in the original title (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) and endures everyday disasters with sarcasm.
- The school and everyday experiences of the fictional fifth-grader Tom Gates are closer to his lifeworld than is the case with Greg.
- The books occasionally make reference to other volumes in the series.
Source: Michael Restin
To date, over 20 books in the series have been published and I have hope that the enthusiasm for them will continue for a while, because boys in particular are often lost as readers at this age. Across genders, a quarter of 15-year-olds have only insufficient reading skills.
Children's books
Tom Gates: Full on the Keks (Crumbs always happen)
German, Liz Pichon, Verena Kilchling, 2021
Children's books
Tom Gates, Vol. 4: I'm such a genius (but no one notices).
German, Liz Pichon, Verena Kilchling, 2016
The fact that Liz Pichon chose a boy as the main character may be a coincidence; she is said not to have read Greg's Diary when she started her series in 2011. There are now several comic novels with female title characters - and generally such a wide variety that most people can recognise themselves in them.
Lottie Brooks
The Lottie Brooks book series by Katie Kirby has been around since 2021. Lottie is just under 12 years old in the first volume and is therefore of interest to a predominantly female target group aged 10 and up. In Greg style, she writes a diary-like account of her disastrously embarrassing early adolescent life between family, new school, friendships and first love.
Children's books
The Disastrously Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks
German, Katie Kirby, Katharina Naumann, 2021
Children's books
Lottie Brooks and the confounded tangle of emotions
German, Katharina Naumann, Katie Kirby, 2023
Dork Diaries
Another diary, another long-running favourite: since 2009, American author Rachel Renée Russell has been publishing the experiences of her 14-year-old main character Nikki Maxwell in Dork Diaries. Inspired by and named after her own daughter Nikki, who is responsible for the drawings. The family project is a huge success story that has sold over 55 million copies to date.
Children's books
DORK Diaries 07. Nikki's (not so) dazzling film career
German, Rachel Renee Russell, Ann Lecker, 2014
Planet Omar
The British author Zanib Mian is another creative woman behind the stories of the Muslim boy Omar, who has to make friends at a new school and come to terms with his siblings and a neighbour full of prejudice. The book series is recommended for ages 8 and up and broadens the cultural horizons of children who previously only knew the turbulent adventures of the Gregs and Toms of this genre.
Children's books
Loewe Planet Omar (Volume 1) - Nothing but trouble
German, Zanib Mian, Ann Lecker, Nasaya Mafaridik, 2023
Children's books
Planet Omar (Volume 3) - Not Again
German, Ann Lecker, Zanib Mian, Nasaya Mafaridik, 2021
Children's books
Planet Omar (Volume 4) - One for All and None Did It
German, Loewe children's books, Ann Lecker, Kyan Cheng, Zanib Mian, 2022
Jimmy Fox
The comic novel series Jimmy Fox was not penned by a British or American author, but by German author and illustrator Nico Sternbaum. His Jimmy is also in the fifth grade and, as expected, doesn't have it easy and records his experiences with his terribly nice family in diary form. His father is a talentless magician, his mother is a pilot and his grandmother is an inventor - plenty of material for amusing experiences that will delight young readers aged 8 and up.
Children's books
Jimmy Fox. Magical bull's eye (unfortunately full on the eye) - A graphic novel
German, Nico Sternbaum, 2022
Miles & Niles
The cover alone makes Miles & Niles look like a modern version of Max and Moritz. Miles Murphy's core competence is pranks, and he wants to play plenty of them at his new school in the deadly dull town of Yawnee Valley. Naturally, he assumes that he can stir things up single-handedly. But he hasn't reckoned with Niles. He's a teacher's pet at school, but he's got it thick as a fist and never gets caught when he pulls pranks. The duels between the two are written by the American Mac Barnett and are recommended for children aged 10 and up.
Really wicked
Recommended for ages 11 and up, the "really wacky" comic novels. Jan Hensen, the main character in Hans-Jürgen Feldhaus' series, is already 12 years old. And he has a problem that might sound familiar to some of the target group: instead of the iPad he wants, he is told that his teacher advises his parents against it. He is worried about Jan's reading skills. So he is forced to record his experiences in diary form with pen and paper. Another story based on the tried-and-tested Greg recipe.
Do you have any more (ex)drawn reading tips? I'm grateful for any ideas and look forward to your comments.
Michael Restin
Senior Editor
Michael.Restin@digitecgalaxus.chSimple writer, dad of two. Likes to be on the move, shimmies through everyday family life, juggles with several balls and occasionally drops something. A ball. Or a remark. Or both.
