Hello everyone, and I’m back with a new book series ranking post. In my last such post, I ranked the first ten Diary of a Wimpy Kid books in my own personal order of worst to best. Now, this post will be ranking a book series that focuses on a somewhat less faulty yet slightly more egotistical and troublesome middle schooler: the Big Nate book series.
Nate Wright has an interesting place in the world of children’s literature. Big Nate began as a comic strip in 1991 that remained relatively unknown, until cartoonist Lincoln Pierce made a decision that changed the property forever. He had been in contact with Jeff Kinney, who at the time was yet to be the author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and was still trying to be a cartoonist. Peirce gave him advice and even put Igdoof, Kinney’s hit character during his college years, in a Big Nate Sunday strip to his pleasure. Kinney went on to get his big break with Diary of a Wimpy Kid in 2007, not forgetting Pierce’s gesture. Realizing that he got more successful than Pierce, Kinney returned the favor when he adapted Big Nate into a Poptropica island in 2008, intending to give Pierce some of that success.
We realized what a powerful publishing platform we had in Poptropica. We decided to dedicate ourselves to putting great content in front of kids, and I immediately thought of ‘Big Nate.’ I’ve always thought ‘Big Nate’ deserved a bigger audience, and it was exciting to think that we could bring the comic to millions of kids.
Things were never the same after that, and Big Nate became wildly popular. Indeed, I have this move to thank for introducing me to Nate’s world and eventually becoming a fan. Pierce was eventually able to write his own book series as a result of the success, capitalizing on Diary of a Wimpy Kid‘s impact and making Nate part of a legacy that includes such similar characters as Rafe Khatchadorian, Nikki Maxwell, and Timmy Failure among others. And the fact that Nate technically precedes all of them, even Greg, gives him an edge against those who may be more critical of that legacy. The last installment, Blasts Off, was released in 2016, and the property even spawned a musical, if you learned something today. However, the strip is still undergoing a lengthy hiatus as a result of unfortunate events in Pierce’s life that are still unspecified.
Just a short update for those of you have noticed Big Nate is in reruns: Lincoln is not on vacation, but rather attending to family matters unrelated to Big Nate. There’s no firm timetable for Lincoln’s return, but rest assured, he has every intention to return to the drawing board as soon as he can.
As I’ve said before, I’m willing to wait as long as I have to for new strips, and it’s possible by this point that Pierce is actually writing the new strips in preparation for their syndication. And of course, there’s that animated movie I hope happens one day once Pierce gets the chance.
But enough with the history and the current developments – it’s time to get to the list! But before I do so, I would like to give a heads up to some minor spoilers to the books as last time. So get out your Cheez Doodles and steer clear of that egg salad as we begin this big countdown!
Continue reading “The Big Nate Book Series, Ranked From Worst To Best”
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