'My concern is that AI makes a lot of things very easy': 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' author on raising kids to read and think
Author Jeff Kinney discusses his parenting philosophy, emphasizing the importance of feeding children's specific interests to encourage reading. He also expresses concern about the impact of AI on children's ability to think critically and engage deeply with content.
Why it matters
Offers expert perspective on the challenges of raising children in an era of screen saturation and generative AI.
'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' author Jeff Kinney shares his parenting advice — and what he'd do differently. Simon Simard for BI This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jeff Kinney, the 55-year-old author of the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series, who lives in Plainville, Massachusetts. It has been edited for length and clarity. When I wrote " Diary of a Wimpy Kid ," I worked on it for eight or nine years without thinking I was writing a book for kids. I thought I was writing a book for grown-ups that would feel like "The Wonder Years" or "A Christmas Story" — looking back on childhood through the lens of an adult. The first thing that surprised me was that my publisher said I'd actually written a children's series; it caused a lot of cognitive dissonance.
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