Jeff Kinney
Born: February 19, 1971 – Fort Washington, Maryland, United States
Jeff Kinney is an American author, cartoonist, and game designer best known for the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, which blends illustrated middle-grade fiction with humor and school-life themes. His books have sold hundreds of millions of copies worldwide, inspired successful film adaptations, and made him one of children’s publishing’s most influential writers.
Biography & Author's Journey
Jeff Kinney was born in Fort Washington, Maryland, in 1971 and came of age wanting to be a newspaper cartoonist rather than a conventional children’s author. At the University of Maryland, where he earned a 1993 degree in criminology and criminal justice, he drew the comic strip Igdoof for The Diamondback, an early sign of the dry humor and observational eye that would define his later work. After college, he worked in software, graphic design, and web-related jobs, carrying the disappointment of an unsyndicated strip into a broader search for a form that suited his voice. ((https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jeff-Kinney))
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Community Voices
"Jeff Kinney has a gift for believable preteen dialogue and narration"
— Publishers Weekly
"Jeff Kinney became one of the world’s most popular writers with Diary of a Wimpy Kid"
— Associated Press
"Jeff Kinney, an icon in his own right, has sold more than 150 million Wimpy Kid books"
— School Library Journal
"Jeff Kinney is perhaps best known as the creator of Greg Heffley, the wry adolescent hero of Kinney’s best-selling Wimpy Kid series"
— Reading Rockets
"Jeff Kinney has crafted a worldwide fanbase through the comedy and candor of Diary of a Wimpy Kid"
— The Boston Globe
"Author Jeff Kinney is a rock star in the publishing world"
— NPR
"Jeff Kinney is a literary superstar among pre-teens and their parents"
— PBS News
"Jeff Kinney is the author who finally convinced my reluctant reader that books could be fun"
— WIRED
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From Columbia University alumni built in San Francisco
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"BeFreed turned my commute into learning time. 20-min podcasts are perfect for finishing books I never had time for."
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"BeFreed turned my guilty doomscrolling into something that feels productive and inspiring."
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