Tinton Falls Student Wins National Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Comics Contest

Bestselling author and illustrator Jeff Kinney selected one original design from over 3,000 entries inspired by the revised Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book – one submitted by Chudney Patterson of Tinton Falls.

New York, NY, June 30, 2011—Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS, has announced the winner of the Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Comics Contest. Bestselling author and illustrator Jeff Kinney selected Chudney Patterson, age 16, of Tinton Falls, NJ, as the winner.

Her original comic, “A Day in the Life of Chudney” was singled out from over 3,000 entries submitted between March 10 and June 10, 2011. Chudney wins $500 for herself and selected Monmouth Regional High School, where she attends school, to receive an additional $1,000. Twenty runners up will also receive prizes.

Chudney’s school recently lost its librarian and media specialist. In addition, the proposed library budget for 2011-2012 reduces funds by $70,000 from the previous year. Chudney, the daughter of Monmouth County Library Children’s Librarian Mary Patterson,  hopes that the money will help the school library and the students.

In publishing the revised and expanded Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book, which had a one million copy first printing when it went on sale May 10, Jeff Kinney encourages kids to write their own bestseller as they experience his signature cartoons and clever activities throughout, along with a section of ruled and blank pages for freestyle doodling, drawing, and writing.

The Do-It-Yourself Book has always been one of my favorite Wimpy Kid books because it puts the creative control in the hands of the kids,” said Jeff Kinney. “Congratulations to Chudney -- she's an exceptionally talented illustrator and has a promising career as a cartoonist ahead of her!”  

Books in the core Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney include Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2007), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (2008), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw (2009), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2009), and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth (2010).

On November 15, 2011, book six in the series, Cabin Fever, will release with a six million copy first printing. Jeff Kinney has also written and illustrated The Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book and The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary. The series is a fixture on the USA Today bestseller list (the first book in the series has remained in the top 150 for more than 200 weeks) and the Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. It has also remained consistently in the top spots on The New York Times lists since publication of the first book in the series.

More than 50 million Diary of a Wimpy Kid books are in print in the United States and Canada. The books have been sold in more than 36 countries in 35 languages around the world. Published by Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS, Kinney’s work has been widely praised for its ability to turn reluctant readers onto books.

Jeff Kinney was named one of TIME magazine’s most influential people in the world. The first movie based on the books, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, grossed more than $75 million worldwide in box office sales, and the second movie, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, was the number one movie at the box office in its opening weekend in theaters. The book series won Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards in 2010 and 2011, and Jeff Kinney was nominated for a Children’s Choice Book Award in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Books in the series have won numerous awards voted on by students and teachers in schools around the globe. In March 2011, the first-ever Wimpy Kid Island, Wimpy Wonderland, debuted on www.poptropica.com.