The Retired Kid

Author: Jon Agee
Publication Date: 2008
Type of Book: Picture Book

The Retired Kid is a fantastic picture book about a little boy named Brian who is exhausted from being a kid. He has to go to school, go to sport practices, go to violin lessons and do a million other things. Brian is fed up and decides he wants to retire from being a kid. His parents throw him a retirement party and off he goes to Florida to live at the Happy Sunset Retirement Community. There he meets some really great people and has a lot of fun doing things he didn't have time to do when he was being a kid. All of those activities were great but there were also other things that he didn't like about being at the retirement community, like having to go to the doctors once a week for a check up. After awhile Brian was feeling down and one of the members at the retirement community told him that it always helps to think back to the good old days. Remembering all of the good things about being a kid helped Brian realize that he didn't want to be retired anymore. He missed being a kid and wanted to go back home.

I absolutely loved this picture book! The story line was adorable and something that everyone can relate to. Sometimes I feel like I would like to retire and just do fun things everyday. The illustrations were also a perfect fit for the story because they were drawn in a way that looks like a kid drew them. I also liked the moral of the story which was, not everything is always as great as it seems. Brian thought that retirement would be way better than being a kid. In the beginning he had a lot of fun but then he soon realized that maybe it wasn't as great as he had imagined. I think this happens a lot to us in life. We always want what we don't have and then when we get it we realize that what we had before maybe wasn't so bad after all.

I would recommend this book to students of all ages. Students in lower elementary school may not be able to read it themselves because of the complexity of the text. It would be better for the teacher to read it aloud to the entire class, so students can focus on the meaning of the story instead of only focusing on figuring out the words. This book can be used as a fun read aloud or it can be used for different lessons. One lesson it could be used for, is memories and reflecting on one's own life.

Image References
http://www.amazon.com/The-Retired-Kid-Jon-Agee/dp/B001Q3M5QM