"Diary of a Wimpy Kid"Tour Bus to Promote Literacy
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By SLJ Staff -- School Library Journal, 07/27/2009
The wait is over. Amulet Books has unveiled the title and cover of the fourth book in Jeff Kinney’s bestselling "Wimpy Kid" series.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, which releases on Monday, October 12, with a first printing of 3 million 
copies, has a yellow cover, which follows the red, blue, and green covers of the of the first three books in the series.
“I didn’t want my fans to have to wait a year for a new book,” says Kinney. “I’m very excited about Dog Days, because it takes Greg out of the school setting for the first time. It’s been a lot of fun to write about the Heffley summer vacation.”
To promote literacy and libraries, there’s also a Diary of a Wimpy Kid ice-cream truck that will tour more than 40 libraries over a 30-day period to promote the "Dog Days of Summer Reading."
The tour will start in Sacramento, CA, on August 3 and conclude in Boston, MA, on August 29, delivering free ice cream to fans as it travels cross country. The tour will include a social media tie-in that chronicles what fans are doing in each city and will offer question-and-answer broadcasts with Kinney at random stops along the way.
Kinney’s work has been widely credited for making reluctant readers excited about books. Since publication of the first "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" book in April 2007, more than 20 million of the books are in print in the United States, and they have been sold in more than 30 countries around the world.
Here’s a preliminary tour bus schedule:
Monday, August 3rd
Sacramento
11:00 am-1:00 pm
Sacramento Public Library
San Francisco
3:30 pm-5:30 pm
Richmond Public Library
Tuesday, August 4th
Palo Alto
12:00 pm-2:00pm
Mitchell Park Library
San Jose
3:00 pm-5:00 pm
Evergreen Branch Library
Thursday, August 6th
Santa Barbara
11:00 am-1:00 pm
Santa Barbara Public Library (branch TBA)
Pasadena
4:00 pm-6:00 pm
Hastings Branch library
Friday, August 7th
L.A. County Library (Two branches TBA)
Saturday, August 8th
San Diego
11:30 am-1:30 pm
San Diego Public Library, Mira Mesa Branch
San Bernadino
3:00 pm-5:00 pm
San Bernadino Public Library, Feldheym Branch
Monday, August 10th
Las Vegas
The Las Vegas Public Library, Sahara West Library Branch
(Times TBA)
The Las Vegas Public Library, Enterprise Library Branch
(Times TBA)
Tuesday, August 11th
Phoenix
10:00 am-12 pm
Phoenix Public Library, Agave Branch
Phoenix Public Library, Cesar Chavez Branch
2 pm-4 pm
Friday, August 14th
Kansas City
Kansas City Public Library (specific branch and time TBA)
Topeka
3:30 pm-5:30 pm
Saturday, August 15th
Omaha
11:00 am-1:00 pm
Omaha Public Library, Millard Branch
Des Moines
Des Moines Public Library (Time and specific branch TBA)
Monday, August 17th
Chicago
Chicago Public Library (Times and two specific branches TBA)
Tuesday, August 18th
Columbus
11:00 am-1:00 pm
Columbus Public Library (specific branch TBA)
Cleveland
TBA
Wednesday, August 19th
Pittsburgh
2:00 pm-4:00 pm
Carnegie Library, Woods Run Library Branch
4:30 pm-7:30 pm
Carnegie Library, Lawrenceville Library Branch
Thursday, August 20th
Washington, DC
First Book Office (Time and location TBA)
Friday, August 21st
Fairfax, VA
2:00 pm-4:00 pm
Fairfax Public Library, Patrick Henry Library Branch
Saturday, August 22nd
Baltimore
Baltimore County Library for two events (Specific time and branches TBA)
Monday, August 24th
Philadelphia
12 pm-2:00 pm
The Free Library of Philadelphia Parkway, Central Library Branch
The Free Library of Philadelphia,
Wyoming Branch Library
3:00-5:00pm
Tuesday, August 25th
Princeton. NJ
12 pm-2:00pm
Princeton Public Library
NYC TBA
Wednesday, August 26th
NYC TBA
Thursday, August 27th
Stamford, CT
11:00 am-1:00 pm
Stamford Public Library Main Branch
New Haven, CT
4:00 pm-6:00 pm
New Haven Free Public Library
Friday, August 28th
Boston, MA
Boston Public Library (Specific time and branch TBA)
Saturday, August 29th
Providence, RI
TBA
