(Photo Credits: Politics and Prose Bookstore on Flickr) ----- Jeff Kinney is a cartoonist, game designer and author of children's novels, most notably the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Jeff was born in College Park, Maryland, in 1971 where he created a comic strip called "Igdoof." He also created the children's website 'Poptropica' which is a virtual world for kids to travel, play games, compete, and communicate safely. Jeff's novels have been positively reviewed and have been commercially successful, with over 200 million copies sold globally. The Diary of a Wimpy Kid has been a regular appearance on USA today, Wall Street Journal, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists, remaining on the list since the publication of the first book in the series for a total of 500 weeks. Since initial publication in 2007, the series has also won numerous awards including six Nickleodeon Kids' Choice Awards for Favorite Book and two Children's Choice Book Awards. Several installments in the series have already been adapted into films by 20th Century Fox. In April 2009, TIME named Kinney one of The World's Most Influential People.