Readers flock to ‘pool party’ hosted by author
Kinney, of ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ fame, set up drive-thru carnival
If writer and illustrator Jeff Kinney ever gets tired of selling hundreds of millions of copies of his “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” books, he can always join a carnival. For that matter, he already owns one — sort of.
Late Friday afternoon, as twilight darkened the Groton sky, Kinney and a support crew of 10 hosted a “Drive Thru Pool Party” at Catherine Kolnaski Magnet School. The event, an innovative, virus- era book tour in support of Kinney’s latest title, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Deep End,” allowed parents to steer family vehicles full of kiddos through a series of short, interactive, circus- midway vignettes set up in the school’s drop off/pick- up lane. Throughout the experience, attendees had been instructed to tune their radios to 103.3, which provided a soundtrack of current hits as well as timeless surf music a la the Beach Boys.
The layout was warmly lit by brightly colored neon and festooned with plenty of giant inflatable pool toys. The experience included a welcoming tiki hut, a prize wheel, an automated car-wash-style tent replicating an underwater adventure, and a lifeguard dunk tank — all leading to a stop where Kinney himself, masked and socially distanced, delivered an autographed copy of “The Deep End” via a 6-foot pool skimmer. Then, after the amiable author posed for photos with each carload, he offered some farewell fun by using the skimmer to toss a water balloon at the vehicle.
“I’m getting pretty good at this,” he said in finest lacrosse form after hitting yet another rear windshield. “Sometimes if I’m really on point, I can get through the sunroof and splash the passengers.”
All this was in service to the plot of “The Deep End,” wherein the series’ popular Heffley family, off for a cross-country camping trip, ends up stranded at an RV park when the skies open up and the water starts to rise.
About 240 tickets were sold for the drive- thru pool party, and each included a signed copy of the book and access for one car.
“I thought a lot about what to do when planning this tour,” Kinney said Wednesday in a phone call from the road. “The whole goal is to give kids something to smile about during COVID. Plus, there’s been a lot of tension over the election and kids can sense that from their parents. So this adds a little more tenor to the situation.”
For the previous book in the series, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball,” Kinney did his usual tour driving a van with a few props. But the isolation we’ve all been going through has been tough, he said — particularly for children. He thus decided to increase the production aspect of this tour. In addition to the personnel traveling on the tour in an expanded van — all of whom, including Kinney, were attired in bright red lifeguard sweatshirts — a large truck was required to transport all the equipment.
“I wanted to bring a bit of a carnival aspect,” Kinney said. “I was thinking about the visual potential of the plot of the book and how we could use that to amplify the whole thing into something a bit more substantial.” This time out, Kinney is accompanied by three other folks to participate in the production, as well as a production crew. “It’s been more than worth it. The response has been really good and positive for families, and that makes us happy.”
By now, the story behind Kinney and his mega-success is pretty well known. It took him eight years to write “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” and the original concept was simply for a humor book.
“Honestly, I never thought about writing for kids,” he said with a laugh. “I wasn’t really aware there was a middle grade section at the bookstore. I thought, if the book even got published, it’d be on that joke books and humor shelf. You know, fitting in alongside a Jerry Seinfeld collection and ‘Calvin and Hobbes.’ But I did get it published and that’s how it was marketed, and now we’re 15 books into this. So that’s really cool.”
Second in line for the drive- thru event was Tara Pluche and her children Kaylee and Dan. While all three were excited for the experience, 5-year-old Kayley was particularly happy. “Deep End” marks the first book she’s ever read, and she said, “I don’t want to read any author but (Kinney).” She added that the event was almost better than Halloween — and would have been if there was an actual swimming pool.
Another clever aspect of Kinney’s “The Deep End” tour is that, for each stop along the way, a “special super fan” from that area will be selected for a personal visit from the author. On Friday afternoon before the appearance at Kolnaski, Kinney headed to Baltic to meet Owen and Olivia Wold. The siblings, 10 and 9, respectively, knew ahead of time their hero was coming.
In an email exchange Thursday with Owen and Olivia and their mother, Victoria, it was clear the Kinney visit was going to be a highlight. Owen said he looked forward to asking Kinney how he learned to draw and Olivia wanted to know how he became an author. As far as personal favorites from the series are concerned, Olivia said she likes them all while Owen claimed “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever,” book No. 6 in the series, is his choice.
Victoria Wold said her children have loved reading since they were babies, and discovered the “Wimpy Kid” books in the first grade. “They haven’t put them down since,” she said. “This is a difficult time for everyone but our hearts break for our kids. It’s as if the whole process of growing up and its rites of passage are all suspended. Then, to have Jeff Kinney want to come and meet you because you love his books is a pretty amazing experience and speaks volumes about his heart and spirit.”