How to Grow Up Without Becoming a Grown-Up

A guide to finding your way back to the joy, imagination, silliness, and creativity of being a child

When we were children, we were imaginative, curious, confident, and loved without judgement. Now we are adults: neurotic, anxious, socially inept, and lonely. What did we lose when we grew up? How can we get it back?

Creator and host of the viral, beloved show Recess Therapy, comedian, and former child Julian Shapiro-Barnum has spent the past four years talking to thousands of children: about love, anger, the environment, their love of corn, and every other curiosity under the sun. And he’s gathered a wealth of information leading him to believe that kids are onto something. After all, babies are born with a profoundly complex, beautiful, and healthy view of everything, and somewhere along the way we trade in that wisdom for whatever this is. 

With tender humor and real wisdom, Julian gets to the heart of life’s biggest issues, seen through the eyes of the littlest among us:

• How to fully feel your feelings (and then let them go)
• Why reclaiming your imagination can make your life richer
• How to bring a sense of wonder back to your work
• Why sometimes breaking the rules is the right thing to do

How to Grow Up Without Becoming a Grown-Up is a guide for grown-ups on how to getting back in touch with a vital sense of play, with the silliness and pure joy you may have been missing lately.