AUTHOR

Jeffrey Patrick "Jeff" Kinney (born February 19, 1971) is an American game designer and author of children's books including the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series. He is also attributed to be the creator of the children-oriented website Poptropica. Kinney works full-time as a writer and designer of online games. According to his website, he also created the kid-friendly website Poptropica. Poptropica is known by many children around the world. Kinney grew up in Fort Washington, Maryland, United States, and attended the University of Maryland at College Park in the early 1990s. It was in college that Kinney created the popular comic strip Igdoof that ran in the campus newspaper, The Diamondback. While there, he knew that he wanted to be a cartoonist. The series has 42 million copies in print world wide as of 2010 and was developed into a feature film. Kinney has also served as an executive producer. To date, five Wimpy Kid books have been released, plus a do-it-yourself book and a movie diary. In 2009, Kinney was named one of Time magazine's 100 "Most Influential People" in the world. Kinney attended Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Maryland and currently lives in Plainville, Massachusetts with his wife and two sons Will and Grant.