Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams, has just released the title and cover art for Jeff Kinney’s much anticipated new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book—Dog Days. The fourth book, which will have a one-day laydown, arrives on Monday, October 12 with a massive three-million-copy first printing.
“I didn’t want my fans to have to wait a year for a new book,” said Kinney in a statement. “I’m very excited about Dog Days, because it takes Greg out of the school setting for the first time. It’s been a lot of fun to write about the Heffley summer vacation.”
In keeping with the new book’s summertime setting, a custom “Wimpy Kid” ice cream truck will visit 40 U.S. libraries over the course of 30 days beginning August 3, promoting “The Dog Days of Summer Reading.” Beginning in Sacramento, Calif., the truck will wind its way through California, Nevada, Arizona, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut before ending its tour in Boston, Mass. Additional tour details are available at the Wimpy Kid Web site.
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| An illustration of the Wimpy Kid ice cream truck. |
There are currently more than 20 million Diary of a Wimpy Kid books in print, and the series remains on numerous bestseller lists. A Fox 2000 live-action film based on the series is scheduled for release next April. The Hollywood Reporterrecently reported that 11-year-old Zachary Gordon, who has appeared on TV’s How I Met Your Mother, landed the lead role of Greg Heffley.
