Jeff Kinney marks 10th anniversary of Wimpy Kid series

NEW YORK - Jeff Kinney remembers when his goal was to write a book, one big book, for grown-ups.

"I thought I'd write about a year in the life of a typical kid," says the children's author known to millions for his Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. "I'd write one book that was between 700 and 1,000 pages long and I'd look at every aspect of childhood within that time frame. Furthermore, I was writing for the humor section of the bookstore, not the middle grade section."

The first 11 novels have sold more than 180 million copies and the series has been the basis for four movies, with the latest, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul, scheduled for May 19.