- Illustrated Chapter Books
- Ages 8–12
- Comedy
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Getaway
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Book 12 in Diary of a Wimpy KidView the full series
A tropical-holiday disaster comedy that works as a sunny companion to The Long Haul. The resort setting gives the series a strong change of scenery while keeping the same family-chaos engine.
- Best for8–12
- FormatIllustrated
- Length240 pp
- Read aloud~3 hr25 min
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The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Conversational
- Comedic
Tone
- Funny
- Irreverent
- Silly
- Adventurous
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
The Heffleys decide to escape winter with a holiday to a tropical resort. It sounds perfect: sun, pools, buffets and a chance to relax. But Greg's family holidays rarely go to plan. Travel stress, resort rules, insects, stomach trouble, water-park chaos and escalating mistakes turn the dream getaway into another Heffley disaster. The Getaway is one of the most location-driven Wimpy Kid books, using the resort setting for quick visual gags and escalating embarrassment. It is very readable for reluctant readers because each page offers a fresh joke, cartoon or holiday mishap. Greg remains selfish and unreliable, but the whole family contributes to the chaos, making this a particularly strong family-comedy entry. It is an easy recommendation for readers who enjoy holiday-gone-wrong stories.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 8–12
- Read aloud · 7–11
- Independent · 8–12
Prose load
Moderate
Visual support
High
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Strong
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Reading together
- Gift-buying
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
3 / 5 · Workable
Sensitive-child
4 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Reluctant reader pick
- Holiday disaster
- Family comedy
- Travel comedy
- Diary format
Avoid if
- Sensitive to travel stress
- Wants school setting
- Wants kind role models
- Dislikes cringe humour
Particularly good for children who are…
- Reluctant reader
- Struggling with reading
- Anxiety and worry
In the classroom
How it works in school.
The definitive reluctant-reader gateway — a free-read favourite whose diary format also offers an accessible model for diary and recount writing.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific recognition is the holiday going wrong in exactly the ways adults said it wouldn't — missed flights, sunburn, an entertainment cruise nobody wants to be on, food that turns against you. Every nine-year-old who's been on a disappointing family holiday gets to read the version where someone else suffers for them.
- Adventure and freedom
- Breaking the rules safely
- Surviving danger
- Family belonging
- Trickery and cleverness
Why parents love it
The Wimpy Kid for the suitcase. Short chapters, holiday premise, no need to remember the previous eleven volumes — picks up cleanly between airport queues and pool sessions. Particularly good for the child who's beginning to suspect family holidays aren't as straightforwardly fun as the adults promised.
- Shared humour
- Quick to read
- Nostalgia
In the series
Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
20 books · open the series →
About the author & illustrator
Jeff Kinney.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
