Jeff Kinney tops the children’s charts with his Wimpy Kid series
Katie Kirby soars to third place in the author chart
In fact, the Wimpy Kid creator
is the only author to hit six figures in volume performance, with second and third placed JK Rowling and David Walliams both dipping below 100,000 units, with contrac- tions of 19.5% and 31.9% respec- tively. Combined, the two power- houses of children’s fiction have lost a total of £450,000 – 40% of the category’s total decline. Rowling manages to keep hold
In the Spotlight
of second place on the author chart, but Walliams loses his third-place spot to Katie Kirby, who rises from sixth with a sales growth of 103.7%. In total, the Lottie Brooks author has achieved sales of 90,434 units, just behind Rowling’s 97,116 – thanks in part to three more titles this year than last, but also due to an increase in the popularity of Kirby’s backlist. The first in the series – The
Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks – is the bestselling title for Kirby so far in 2025, with 18,961 copies sold, up 63.7% vs 2024’s 11,584 units, and takes the
fourth spot on the individual title chart. The paperback edition of The Majorly Awkward BFF Dramas of Lottie Brooks is due in May, and a new title – Lottie Brooks vs the Ultra Mean Girls – joins the series in July. This pair, alongside a new hardback edition of Lottie Brooks’ first outing, could see Kirby rise even further up the chart in 2025. Kirby is not the only author to
get off to a good start in 2025 – Rachel Renee Russell’s Dork Diaries series has helped deliver a 65.7% increase in sales, with the 16-strong list noting a total of 58,371 copies so far this year. While they might move around
the ranking a little, the top nine authors have not changed year- on-year. Between them, their sales are down 8.8%, but the nonet still account for just under a third of the category’s total sales. There is one change in the top
10, though, with Peter Brown increasing his sales an impressive 708% to take the coveted space from Katherine Rundell. Brown’s The Wild Robot and its sequels have all enjoyed a boost thanks to the film adaptation of the same name, released in September 2024.
REPORTING Alex Call
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MG Leonard Hunt for the Golden Scarab Macmillan Children’s, £7.99, 9781035005963
Appearing at number 12 on the overall chart, Leonard’s latest has the honour of being the highest ranked title not from one of the Top 10 authors. The first in a new series, Hunt for the Golden Scarab has sold 12,993 copies since it was published at the end of January – accounting for more than three fifths of Leonard’s total sales so far this year. It is 10,000 more than Leonard’s previous paperback – Feather, the fourth in the Twitchers series – which only managed 2,933 copies in the equivalent weeks in 2024.
12,993 TCM copies sold
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The Getaway Jeff Kinney Puffin, 9780141385259
The Last Bear Hannah Gold HarperCollins, 9780008411312
Mufasa Autumn, 9781836501008
Wrecking Ball Jeff Kinney Puffin, 9780241396926
9,990 9,553 9,537 9,495
The Majorly Awkward BFF Dramas… Katie Kirby Puffin, 9780241647257
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Roald Dahl Puffin, 9780241558324
Impossible Creatures Katherine Rundell Bloomsbury, 9781408897430
Whisperwicks Jordan Lees Puffin, 9780241607503
9,482 9,391 8,856 8,755
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire JK Rowling Bloomsbury, 9781408855683
Dork Diaries Rachel Renee Russell Simon & Schuster, 9781398527553
I Am Rebel Ross Montgomery Walker, 9781529502909
Finding Bear Hannah Gold HarperCollins, 9780008582043
I Love Paris! Rachel Renee Russell Simon & Schuster, 9781471196850
8,640 8,296 8,150 7,978 7,826
The Five and the Forgotten Treasure Chris Smith Hodder Children’s, 9781444978728
The Meltdown Jeff Kinney Puffin, 9780241389317
7,617 7,544
Harry Potter… Order of the Phoenix JK Rowling Bloomsbury, 9781408855690
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Jeff Kinney Puffin, 9780141324906
7,201 7,058
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows JK Rowling Bloomsbury, 9781408855713
Tom Gates is Ha! Ha! Hilarious Liz Pichon Scholastic, 9781407191126
Drama Queen Rachel Renee Russell Simon & Schuster, 9781398527638
6,978 6,855 6,759
The Completely Chaotic Christmas… Katie Kirby Puffin, 9780241679166
Wild Robot Peter Brown Piccadilly Press, 9781800789913
Five Star Stories Liz Pichon Scholastic, 9780702328763
6,665 6,615 6,581
Harry Potter… Half-Blood Prince JK Rowling Bloomsbury, 9781408855706
The Twits Roald Dahl Puffin, 9780241578186
Robodog David Walliams HarperCollins, 9780008588861
The Invisible String Patrice Karst Hachette, 9780316486231
Sleepytime Stories Enid Blyton Hodder Children’s, 9781444977561
Wrath of the Triple Goddess Rick Riordan Puffin, 9780241691694
What Once Was Mine Liz Braswell Autumn, 9781837713226
6,464 6,455 6,433 6,325 6,137 6,115 6,106 47
FILIP WOLAK
Charts Market Spotlight
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