Jeff Kinney Named to "Time 100"

BOSTON - May 6, 2009 - Education Network's Jeff Kinney has gone from "Wimpy Kid" to one of "Time" magazine's 100 most influential people of 2009. Kinney, design director for the family of educational and informative Web sites and author of the global bestseller " Diary of a Wimpy Kid," joined world leaders and pop stars, actors and environmentalists on this annual list of the people who most affect our world.

The bestselling and soon-to-be a major motion picture, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," first debuted online five years ago on Family Education Network's Funbrain.com, the world's largest, most popular, site of educational games. The online edition of "Wimpy Kid" has been read by more than 80 million children, and the print version published by Amulet, an imprint of Harry N. Abrams Publishing, has held multiple positions on "The New York Times Book Review Children's Best Sellers List."

"Who should be on the list of the world's 100 most influential people? A cartoonist who writes about adolescent kids? The designer of Web sites that engage 1.5 million readers every 24 hours? The creative force behind Poptropica, the Internet's fastest growing virtual world for kids? Absolutely!" said Jess M. Brallier, publisher, Family Education Network. "The creativity and insight that Jeff has brought to the design of our sites as well as to his ?Wimpy Kid' series have not only played an important role in our popularity and success, but have also encouraged millions of kids from across the world to read. He is a really influential person."

In the May 4 issue of "Time," featuring the 100 most influential people of 2009, Forrest Simpson, "Time for Kids" reporter and sixth-grader at Riverdale Country School in the Bronx, N.Y., writes, "Even my friends who say they hate to read can be heard recalling hilarious scenes. Each book resembles a real diary, with text and cartoons that look hand-drawn by a sixth-grader. We love these books because of Kinney's ability to vividly describe the life and problems of an average middle-schooler, with pictures and language that capture our sense of humor and perspective."

Kinney designed Family Education Network's popular and influential parenting site, FamilyEducation.com, including the popular "finders" for quickly and easily searching the site for everything from parenting advice and baby and family name finders to recipes and activities. He also developed the popular Funbrain Math Arcade, where kids can play great games while building math skills.

Most recently, Kinney was the creative force behind Poptropica, the Web's fastest growing virtual world dedicated solely to publishing for kids. Launched less than two years ago, Poptropica now features eight interactive islands and is visited by more than 17 million kids each month.

About Family Education Network (FEN.com)
Family Education Network is the Web's leading source of educational content and resources for parents, teachers and kids. They are developers of several distinct properties including FamilyEducation, TeacherVision and Funbrain.

Family Education Network is part of Pearson, the world's largest integrated education company. Pearson's other primary operations include the Financial Times Group and the Penguin Group.