All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten [Paperback]

Robert Fulghum (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 4, 2004

Fifteen years ago, Robert Fulghum published a simple credo—a credo that became the phenomenal #1 New York Times bestseller All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Now, seven million copies later, Fulghum returns to the book that was embraced around the world. He has written a new preface and twenty-five essays, which add even more potency to a common, though no less relevant, piece of wisdom: that the most basic aspects of life bear its most important opportunities.

Here Fulghum engages us with musings on life, death, love, pain, joy, sorrow, and the best chicken-fried steak in the continental U.S.A. The little seed in the Styrofoam cup offers a reminder about our own mortality and the delicate nature of life . . . a spider who catches (and loses) a full-grown woman in its web one fine morning teaches us about surviving catastrophe . . . the love story of Jean-Francois Pilatre and his hot air balloon reminds us to be brave and unafraid to “fly” . . . life lessons hidden in the laundry pile . . . magical qualities found in a box of crayons . . . hide-and-seek vs. sardines—and how these games relate to the nature of God. All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten is brimming with the very stuff of life and the significance found in the smallest details.

In the years that have passed since the first publication of this book that touched so many with its simple, profound wisdom, Robert Fulghum has had some time to ponder, to reevaluate, and to reconsider. And here are those fresh thoughts on classic topics, right alongside the wonderful new essays.

Perhaps in today’s chaotic, more challenging world, these essays on life will resonate even deeper—as readers discover how universal insights can be found in ordinary events.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Of these "random jottings," PW said, "Fulghum does not express uncommon thoughts here: his thoughts are those we all wish were true." The book's tone is set by the title piece in which the author sets out his banal credos, ranging from "share everything" to "hold hands and stick together."
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Unitarian minister Fulghum has become something of a celebrity since a talk he gave at a primary school graduation ("Share everything. Play fair. . . . LOOK.") generated such interest that it ultimately found its way into "Dear Abby." Here is more of his philosophyalways go with dreams, imagination, hope, laughter, and loveaccompanied by random musings on dandelions, medicine cabinets, and the vices of excessive tidiness, which are quirky and often thought-provoking. Undergirded by his love for family and (loosely understood) for God, this makes refreshing reading. EC
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 15 Revised edition (May 4, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 034546639X
• ISBN-13: 978-0345466396
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (113 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Fulghum is the bestselling author of "All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten," "It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It," "Uh-Oh," "Maybe (Maybe Not)," "From Beginning To End," "Words I Wish I Wrote," "True Love," and "What On Earth Have I Done?"

"Third Wish" is his first novel, published originally in Czech, Slovak, and Hungarian. He lives in Seattle, Washington and on the Greek island of Crete.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Be aware of wonder. May 4, 2002

By Victoria Tarrani

Format:Mass Market Paperback

"A part of this -- the part about what I learned in kindergarten -- was passed around the country until it took on a life of its own. One day it was sent home in the knapsack of a child whose mother is a literary agent..." (Robert Fulghum) Thus history was written -- serendipitous indeed. I have read the chain message, which lists these gems, many times from various Internet friends, throughout the years. Many of the phrases are clichés now because of the truth within the words.

Finding fragments of our own lives in these pages is easy. Fulghum consolidated his extensive Credo of life into a simpler format, such as: "Remember the Dick and Jane books and the first word you learned -- the biggest word of all -- is LOOK." Look both ways... look into the heart of the matter... look at yourself... look at history... look what happened... look at what you missed....

All of the kindergarten principles are found in the first three pages, and then Fulghum reveals how he applied these ideals throughout his life. One example is his encounters with a neighbor who was a "raker and a shoveler." He picked up the leaves and shoveled away the snow, but with the attitude of you "can't let old Mother Nature get ahead of you," and considered Fulghum to be a lazy neighbor. The leaves pile up, become mulch, and make more earth. The snow melts and feeds the land. Nature has taken care of itself for a long time. I imagined someone going into the woods and everywhere else, daily gathering leaves in a constant frustrating battle, and at season's change shoveling the snow from one place to another. Of course, I would want the leaves raked up and the snow shoveled off the driveway and sidewalk, but my dad, who understood the cycle, put the greens in the garden.

Fulghum shows the fallacy of gender encoding through a simple example about cars -- the Y chromosome does not mean a man knows about jumper cables. "Besides, this guy only asked me if I 'had' jumper cables, not if I knew how to 'use' them." He describes an incident where he and the stranded collaborator swaggered around, "being all macho and cool and talking automobile talk." They looked under the hood of the car, and there was no battery. "'Hell,' I said, 'there's your problem right there. Somebody stole your battery.'"

In these marvelous vignettes, Fulghum shows a simpler way to look at those things we confront in life. The book was first published in 1986, and it is still being published. Very few books survive this long -- only the good ones do. Five stars.

Victoria Tarrani

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyday Philospohy April 8, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Robert Fulghum offers some uncommon insights on everyday occurances. This book made me laugh, cry, relate, but most of all it made me think. Mr. Fulghum casts a new light on everything from the life lessons of primary school, religious philosophies and the minor disaster of walking into a spider web on your way out the door to work. I throughly enjoyed this collection of essays on many levels. As often as it made me laugh, it also made me examine the nuiances of my own life.

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book from an American Hero June 21, 2000

By Henry F. Haskell Jr.

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Fulghum's outlook on life is refreshing. He finds simple pleasures in everyday life that many people are missing. The core of his book(s) revolves around treating ourselves and others with kindness, exploring everything with wonder our Surroundings, and giving each other that special kind of boost that says I know your their and I'm glad. If you're looking for deep thought and didn't find it here I challenge you to reread it. I would go so far to say that he is the Tao Tzu of out times. In a world so filled with hatred and actions designed to break others down Fulghum has written a book that can bring the kind, wonderous child in all of us out. I cannot recommend it more.

finally, Yes I always buy lemonaid from kids on the street corner even if I have to circle the block. It's worth the smiles :)