The Retired Kid

A silly premise with a great message at the end. I love that Brian realizes that even with all of the work involved with being a kid, there are happy memories along with the bad ones. A fun book for any kid, but especially somebody dealing with a lot.

As a kid when haven't you wanted to retire and be fed up with going to school. I know I have this is a funny book about a kid who is done with being a kid and decides he wants to retire. It's funny how his family lets him retire. In the end he finds out that retiring for him is not what it is cut out to be so he leaves and says he happy to be a kid. I love the illustrations and drawings. My favorite is the layout of it showing what he does as a kid.

The story of a boy who's had it with school and soccer and basically the endless responsibility of being a kid decides to retire and move to Florida He moves into a retirement community and settles into the life of a retired person. I can't begin to tell you how wonderful that sounds. The only difference being that he eventually got tired of the retired life and decided to return to the hectic schedule of being a kid. I wouldn't do that. I' stay retired and never look back. Still, this was a good book and you should give it a read.

Brian has enough of being a kid. Between soccer practice, violin class, babysitting his sister, and eating his vegetables, Brian decides it is time for a change. He retires to Happy Sunset Retirement Community in Florida. At first, Brian has a great time golfing, napping, and watching movies with his new older friends. He is not as thrilled with the long documentaries, weekly checkups, or prune juice smoothies. Brian realizes he does not fit in with retired life. Some advice from his new friend Harvey gives him a new perspective on why it’s great to be a kid, and Brian happily returns to his former life. Agee’s charming cartoony artwork add humor to an already silly tale. Some diversity present in illustrations of both school show more children and adults at the retirement community. Many children will relate to Brian’s woeful attitude on the rigorous demands of childhood. Others will laugh at Brian’s hijinks at the retirement community, and this humor may encourage reluctant readers. Recommended. Ages 4-8. show less

Brian is fed up of being a kid. He goes to soccer practice, he walks the dog, and, of course, he goes to school every day. So one day he goes home, and tells his family that after eight years, he needs a break, and is retiring. Brian heads to Florida, to the Happy Sunset Retirement Community, where he meets lots of interesting retired people, and participates in activities such as golf, long afternoon naps and drinking Wally’s prune juice smoothies. However, Brian becomes increasingly disillusioned with his new life. One of his new friends advises him to think of the ‘good old days’, and as Brian reminisces about life at school he realizes that maybe it wasn’t as bad as he first thought…
I have shared this picture book with a show more number of grades, and it generates excellent discussions each time. My students are enthralled by the story, and love the idea that Brian takes matters into his own hands, and does something to change his life. We talk about the fun activities that you can do when you retire, and we also talk about all the fun things you can do at school, and it is an ideal book for sparking discussions with students about time management, and juggling activities. This is a great read-aloud that would be an ideal introduction to a curriculum unit that focuses on community, or on family or seniors issues.
Also posted at: http://manybooksmanyvoices.wordpress.com/2009/11/17/the-retired-kid/ show less

Being a kid is hard work! Now, after eight long years of toil, 8-year-old, Brian, has decided to retire. No more grueling soccer practices, violin lessons, or broccoli for Brian! He's headed to Florida to the Happy Sunset Retirement Community. At first it's great fun - swimming, card games, fishing... but then there's the hip replacement discussions, prune juice smoothies, television documentaries, knitting classes... Perhaps being a kid isn't so bad after all.

A humorous look at the joys and difficulties of being a kid! Simply illustrated in Jon Agee's minimalist style - painted sketches and lots of white space.

A kid decides that being a kid is too much work, so he retires and moves to a home in Florida at the ripe old age of 8. Everything seems great, until he starts to realize the problems of the elderly. A whimsical exercise in perspective taking.