Having just announced a five-million-copy first printing for The Ugly Truth, the fifth book in Jeff Kinney’s bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Amulet Books is preparing to take the Wimpy Kid show on the road with its second annual ice cream truck tour. Last year, one ice cream truck visited 40 U.S. libraries while promoting the fourth book, Dog Days. This time, two identical trucks will travel different routes, visiting bookstores across the country and in Canada.
The ice cream truck tour begins August 15 and runs through August 28. Each truck will have 26 events, with stops that take them up and down the East Coast and into the Midwest. One truck will visit bookstores in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois; the second will stop in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Ohio, Michigan, Ontario, and Vermont. Purple ice cream treats (to match the cover of the new book) will be given away at each event; for every treat, Abrams will donate one children’s book to nonprofit organization First Book.
“This is the best kind of promotion,” said Abrams president and CEO Michael Jacobs in a statement. “Ice treats for fans and booksellers, and more than 25,000 new books donated to First Book to help programs across the country serving children in need. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series has helped turn young readers on to books, and through this tour we are thrilled to help build the excitement for more books and build foot traffic for booksellers.” The Ugly Truth goes on sale November 9, and a box set of the first four books will be available in September. A full tour schedule is available on the Abrams Web site.
