"All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten"

by Robert Fulghum, 1986, 196p, rating=5

I've found reading adult non-fiction books to be a tedious read because it involves many facts.  I finally gave up on one that I've had for almost a month because telling me every detail history of her relatives just got too much and it looked like she wasn't going to let up!  But this book had nothing tedious about it.  It had me chuckling through the entire book.  It was sooooo easy to turn from one page to the next and time just flew by.  I would have been disappointed that it ended but Mr. Fulghum ended it with reference to Mother Theresa so he left you inspired.

Catchy title, huh?  This author's credo impressed Washington's Senator Dan Evans (he was in the audience when Mr. Fulghum, a minister, shared it in a primary school celebration) and eventually was read into the Congressional Record.  The credo caught on and before long one would find it in 'Dear Abby', Reader's Digest, read by Paul Harvey and Larry King, and posters of it all over schools nationwide.  This enthusiasm, I would venture to guess, launched this book.  But he didn't go on about kindergarten stuff but instead wrote about collected favorite observations of his vision of the wonder of everyday life; uncommon thoughts on common things.  Small observations with big meaning.

Seriously a fun read!!  Zany thoughts that make you go hmmm.  Few of my favorites were:  one about the raccoons, the story of Menon and the elderly Sikh, one he called "The Mystery of Twenty-Fifth Avenue, Northeast", Hong Duc's trick or treating at Christmas, and of course the one about Mother Theresa.

I'm giving it a 5 for ease of read, fun content, creativity, and big meanings. 

Now here is the credo:

Most of what I really need to know about how to live and how to be I learned in kindergarten.  Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there is the sandpile at Sunday school.  These are the things I learned:

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life--learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder.