The Retired Kid

by Jon Agee

"It's been a wonderful eight years, but I need a break."

At the Happy Sunset Retirement Community, there's Ethel, Myrtle, Harvey, and Tex. And then there's Brian. The retired kid. He's here to escape school, homework, and daily chores.

But retired living has its challenges, especially when you're sixty years younger than everybody else!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Fiction, Storytime, Juvenile

32 pages, Hardcover

First published June 24, 2008

About the author

I grew up in Nyack, New York, just up the street from the Hudson River. In our house, there was always an art project going on.

My early drawings were very animated: a lot of stuff zipping around, airplanes, racing cars, football players. No surprise my first published drawing was a pack of rats running along a highway (The Rat Race). I did that for the New York Times Op Ed page when I was still in high school.

I went to college at The Cooper Union School of Art in New York City. I studied painting, sculpture and filmmaking, but what I loved doing most—in my spare time—was drawing cartoons and comic strips.

When I graduated, I hauled my pile of doodles into the offices of a bunch of editors, with the wild notion that somebody might publish them. When that failed, I wrote a story for kids to go with my pictures (If Snow Falls). It was two sentences long (which counts, by the way). Frances Foster, a wonderful editor at Random House, saw something in that book and signed me up.

The next book, Ellsworth, was about a dog who teaches economics at a university. When he gets home, he throws off his clothes and acts like a dog, which is fine, until some fellow teachers discover this and he loses his job. Somebody told me that Ellsworth was a story about "being yourself." I never realized it had a moral.

I moved to another publisher with Ludlow Laughs, the story of a grumpy guy who laughs in his sleep. This book was doing very poorly until the comedienne Phyliss Diller read it on PBS's Reading Rainbow. It stayed in print for over twenty years.

My fourth book, The Incredible Painting of Felix Clousseau, was a hit. One of the first people to see it and give it the thumb's up—literally, hot off the press—was Maurice Sendak. We bumped into each other at the printers. It was a lucky first meeting, and happily not our last.

That was all a long time ago. Since then I've written many other picture books, illustrated a few by other authors, and created a series of offbeat wordplay books, beginning with the book of palindromes, Go Hang a Salami! I'm a Lasagna Hog!

I visit schools across the country and sometimes around the globe. I live with my wife, Audrey, in San Francisco.

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Between school, and babysitting, and soccer practice, Brian is in a rut. He tells his parents - "It's been a wonderful eight years, but I need a break." The next day, he's on a plane to Florida. There his days are filled with card games, golf, and afternoon naps. But sometimes, not having a job is not all it's cracked up to be.

Very cute story by Agee about exploring other lifestyles, and learning to appreciate what you've got.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life is hard for Brian. There’s school, practice, little sisters, and VEGETABLES! Soooo....he's decided to retire. :)

”It’s been a wonderful eight years,” he said, “but I need a break.”

Brian says goodbye to his friends and family and sets off for a retirement community in Florida. But soon his days are filled with golf, naps, lots of pictures of grandchildren, and prune juice! Little by little, Brian starts to miss the good ‘ole days. He might even miss his little sister. Can Brian go back to the kid ways he left behind though? Come see!

This put-yourself-in-their-shoes tale is laugh out loud hilarious. And heartwarming! It will remind readers of all ages not to wish the days away. Let’s enjoy each and every stage of our lives. It all goes by in a blink of an eye!

Highly recommended.

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ya ampuunn buku ini lucu banget sih! Idenya itu lho.. kreatip (pake P)

Ada seorang anak, namanya Brian. Tiap hari dia sekolah, belajar, latihan sepak bola, kursus biola, kursus vokal, ngajak anjingnya jalan-jalan, jagain adiknya, belum lagi harus makan sayur. Jadi anak kecil memang sulit!

Maka suatu hari Brian mengumumkan bahwa dia akan pensiun. Tadinya ayah dan ibunya mengira Brian hanya bosan, maka mereka membuat pesta perpisahan buatnya. Tapi ternyata Brian serius, dan dia pergi ke panti jompo, dimana orang-orang tua para pensiunan berkumpul.

Disana kehidupannya menyenangkan. Dia bertemu orang-orang yang menarik, main kartu, main golf, tidur siang yang panjang, mancing, nonton pertandingan, nonton bioskop, pokoke asik dah! Namanya juga panti jompo, kan kehidupan disana hanya santai menikmati masa pensiun.

Tapi setelah tiga minggu Brian stress! Ternyata jadi pensiunan itu harus mendengarkan keluhan orang jompo itu yang sakit kaki lah, liat foto keluarga ibu itu lah (diulang-ulang terus tiap hari ya bosen juga ya?), nonton film dokumenter lah (gak ada cartoon network ya?), belum lagi kelas merajut, dansa sama uyut-uyut, dan yang parah adalah ketika Brian ngedudukin gigi palsu milik Mr Ethel! Duuuhhh gak tahan rasanya!!!

Harvey (salah seorang pensiunan) berkata kalo masa pensiun bikin stress, kita harus memikirkan hari-hari yang indah yang pernah kita jalani. Maka Brian duduk di bawah pohon dan memikirkan masa-masa indahnya dulu: ketika dia nge-gol-in bola ke dalam gawang, ketika nilai matematikanya bagus, ketika mentas dipanggung, membuat adiknya tertawa, dan lain-lain.

Brian memutuskan untuk menyudahi masa pensiunnya dan kembali menjadi anak-anak. Dia berkata ke teman-temannya: "It's hard work being a kid, but guess what? I LOVE MY JOB!"

*nyengir* kalo dipikir iya yah? Jadi anak kecil tuh susah banget. Tiap hariii disuruh makan, disuruh belajar, disuruh mandi, disuruh ini-itu. Semuaaaa serba disuruh dan harus diturutin, kalo nggak...? Hati-hati kena omelan atau yang parah cubitan di paha *Huuhuuhuu*

Kasian juga.

[Monica Edinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clever. Just read it to my class of 4th graders and they got a kick out of it too (although they didn't agree that being a kid was a job).

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt like this book truly expresses how hard it is to be young. This book was so wonderful it made feel as though I am supposed to do what that kid does. Maybe my true place is retirement. Maybe that is what this intelligent book is telling me. Hey you should stop 🛑 fly to florida and retire. Thank you for allowing me to have this revelation Jon

[Ken Yuen · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's things to appreciate in one's current situation

[DaNae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious addition to the list of "the grass is always greener" tropes.

[Picture Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Retired Kid is interesting, because Jon Agee has a very cartoony sketchy style, and a lot of the pages look like panels because they have gutters, but the texts and pictures and not very integrated, certainly not in the way they are in comics. The very last page has large text in a speech bubble. A puzzling hybrid.

From his official biography: "I took up painting, sculpture, lithography, photography and filmmaking, but the thing I loved most was sketching out cartoons and comic strips in my spare time. ... When I graduated, I hauled my pile of doodles into the offices of a bunch of editors, with the wild notion that somebody might publish them. When that failed, I wrote a story for kids to go with my pictures."

I tried to find out if Jon Agee does any comics work not targeted toward children. It looks like Palindromania! is listed in the comic book database and could be more for all ages. Like William Steig (another picture book author/illustrator), Jon Agee also has had some cartoons published in the New Yorker.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Retired Kid is a great book! However, I feel that I would choose it for an older audience. Maybe 3rd or 4th grade, where students can really understand what Brian goes through at his age. I love this book because it picks at the little issues of being a kid, like going to school or other lessons. Most kids would agree that school is a job that they want to retire from. But, would they really want to leave to a retirement home? This book allows for great discussions in class. You could have students write about what their idea of retirement would be, if they could retire. The illustrations are colorful and very bold. They are similar to a child's drawings, and could easily be used by children as inspiration to illustrate their own images about retirement.In the end, though, I love how the author brought the story round full circle. He reverted back to how things used to be for Brian and how he missed his life at home. This is a great lesson for children. Something may look good or be a good idea, but it may not turn out the way you expect it to.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admittedly, I thought adults might get more of a chuckle out of this than kids. So I was surprised that my six-year old got the moral of this story and made connections ("Rockumentaries are those boring shows Pappy watches"). So all in all, a nice book for a laugh and to pull out when junior starts to whine about how rough life is. And bonus points: getting to use my old man voice while reading a picture book.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

My boys were already familiar with and enjoy this book (the 3rd grader brought it home from school), but it was new to me. They all think it's funny. I think I'd like to be retired for a month, especially if I could substitute some other activity for the golf!

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a funny story about the drudgery and meaning of our daily work, whatever our age. It is a bit of a commentary on the activities of retired persons and the need to feel active and useful. Our girls thought the juxtaposition was silly.

[Zaifeena · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book to read to your child when he complains what a bore it is to go to school and do chores. The language is simple but some of the humour might be beyond your child. Nevertheless, he'll get the message all right-that life as a kid is good, school and all.

[Barb Keltner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, what a fun book! Agee is always good, but I think this is book is a doozy, perhaps since I am recently retired. My favorite part was Brian's aversion to "prune juice smoothies" at the retirement home. Definitely a cute read for a young reader to share with retired Grandma and Grandpa!

[Meaghan Ball · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book won the Buckeye Children's and Teen Book Award. This story was about an eight year old boy who was overwhelmed with his life, so he decided to retire. He flew to Florida and joined a retirement home. After being there for a few days, he realized that the retired life wasn't for him, so he went back home to his normal eight year old life. The print content is important in this story because it shows children that life may get challenging and overwhelming at times, but to enjoy it and make the most of it because it is YOUR life. A teacher could use this in the classroom setting when she is teaching children life lessons about how even though things may be tough right now, it gets better and it will be with it in the end. They can also tie into the lesson to mention that it is okay for everyone to take a break every once and a while.

[Linda DiGaetano · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a funny book in that a little boy who was 8 felt his life was very hard. So he delivers himself to a retirement community and at first he likes being able to relax, but he suddenly realizes it isn't what it is all cracked up to be. He returns home completely satisfied to be a child again. This was cute in who ever thought of this shift in attitudes. Usually, its the adults who say how difficult things are however they wouldn't wander off to a retirement community. But it was very clever. It may be a teaching book for children on how to enjoy their childhood and to realize it's so much fun. The illustrations were cute as well.

[Stephanie Chiaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one cute book! It teaches children the value of being a kid, something we have all at one time taken for granted. "Don't grow up too fast, kid..." we've all heard it, but I've never actually seen it put together in a storybook lesson. It features a little boy who decides to be retired from being a kid. He flies to Florida and lives in a retirement community, only to discover that he misses home. Suggestion? Read it to your kids who just want to be grown up.

[Sean Harding · Rating 4 out of 5]

Agee Assignment #10
Humorous book where 8 year old kid retires and well finds out he is not ready to retire.
Some great moments and laugh out loud parts which should really get young readers going especially if read well and in a group setting.
It does make some interesting points about aging and thee different stages of life in a subtle and non confronting way which would be worth discussing.
A good solid read again from Mr Agee.

[John Mullarkey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jon Agee has written some very funny and clever books and this one is right there with them. It is "hard work being a kid" but when it comes down to it, most adults would trade their jobs for life back in elementary school. The whole retirement community element is truly funny - it reminds me of many of the older people in my life when I was a kid and how little we had in common - A true generational gap!

[Collin A · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is what i would love to do with my life all the time, retire as a kid. That was until i read this book and saw all the hardships that come with it only being so young compared to everybody around you. I think the colors were well fitting for the book and the setting it was in. I think that it would be fun for a week or a month to be a retired kid but then after that i would be tired and want to go back and be with my friends and do things they are doing.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brian retires, because being 8 years old is hard; school, soccer, violin and not to mention his chores. He moves to Florida but soon learns that being retired is hard too.

Why I started this book: So fun to swap book recommendations with my sisters.

Why I finished it: Brian, I feel you, sometimes you need to take a couple of weeks to remember the good things in your life.

[Mandy Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty cute book filled with lots of pictures and easy words for beginner readers. I would definitely recommend this as a book to put in your classroom, but I wouldn't use it as a read aloud book unless it was for fun. Like if we were having to do inside recess and the kids wanted to read a book I would read this one. I would recommend this book for kids 1st-4th grade.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! But then again, Jon Agee writes some really clever children's books. A little boy is tired of the job of being a little boy. So he decides to retire from that role. It's a cute book that incorporates some of the stereotypical things retirees experience.

[Litwithlove · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 The retired kid is a book about what your life *could* look like, and appreciating that same life as it already is. I read this with my 8 year old and she enjoyed it. I even let out a few audible nose snort laughs.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute story about 8 year old Brian who decides to retire from his life of school, activities, and chores. He flies to Florida, moves into a retirement community, and begins his new life.

[Kaitlin Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read about being thankful for what you have. Classic, wonderful Jon Agee illustrations.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Preschool or family storytime...it's hard being a kid.

[talia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being an overscheduled kid is hard work, but so is being retired.

[Taylor Kurth · Rating 3 out of 5]

me 2

[Chad Seevers · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun read out loud book, or give to a kid who dosen't like school.