My friends all told me to read this over and over for the longest time, but I for some reason just wouldn't. I think it's because I was being a butthead, but I finally broke down and bought it. They were right! It's really great. I really breaks it down to basics and brings it back to your core. I love how show that it just simple breaks down how knowledge is great and everything, but the core if it is just simple things that we all learned when we were little kids and then we can build off of it as we wanted. I can't believe I went for so long before reading this book, but that's just me being stubborn. I have now suggested this to a couple coworkers who were just as skeptical about it as I was. I think people don't want to read it because it's popular and you just don't want to be part of a herd, but this is great.

All I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten is much more than its title. For years I did not bother to read the book since I figured I knew it all already from the posters that hung everywhere advertising his wisdom. Yes, it was funny and poignant, but what would be left? Not until a friend had it with her on a long, boring car ride did I open it up and flip through its pages. To my surprise, the title of the book was only the title of the one essay! All the rest were easy to read, just as funny and poignant, and some can even make you cry. I had read the whole book by the time we arrived. The author has a unique perspective on life that encourages you to take a look at the way you are living, and then inspires you to make a change. I would recommend the book even if one doesn’t buy into his philosophy, because he is such a great writer. Enjoy.

I really enjoyed reading this book and re-read it occasionally. It's true, the most basic tenets of living are learned at a very early age. Learning to share, to be safe, to be helpful, honest and responsible. For older readers this book will bring back fond memories of early childhood. For parents of young children it will remind you of what's really important in your child's life.

If only everyone in the world learned these lessons and held onto them in adult hood! Imagine what an amazing world that would be, when everyone, personal, corporate and governmental, played nice in the sand box!

What an amzing and peaceful world that would be. This books gives me hope!

Robert Fulghum recommends adults return to the simple truths we all knew in childhood. Share. Warm cookies and cold milk go a long way to making a bad day better. If you're cranky, take a nap!

It might sound silly, but behind the humour lies some simple wisdom. Funny anecdotes are punctuated by stories that made me a little teary eyed. All of them are meant to illustrate just how short and precious life is. Instead of being so caught up in our day to day struggles and worries, we could all benefit from slowing down and enjoying the simple pleasures of life like a child would.

This book was given to me as a gift from a friend the very first time my husband was deployed. I had heard of it but never felt the need to actually buy it. The title caught my attention but that was it.
The first time I opened the book I scanned it quickly and then put it down. A couple days later when I was feeling depressed over missing my husband I picked it back up.
The words within the pages lifted my spirits and I realized something. Everything I know I really did learn in that very first year of school. Those first years of our formal education help build who we are and this book helped me so much.
I now have a tradition that with every deployment I read it. I have even started giving it as a gift.
My oldest child started kindergarten this year and I had to smile when I thought about all that he would learn and how some day he to would probably read this book and think "This is great and so true."
The book is simple, with simple thoughts, simple wisdom, simple everything. Which is such a breathe of fresh air when we live in a world where nothing seems to be simple anymore.

How could this title NOT get your attention? I mean really. If you heard this on the news or something, you would be wishing you'd never gone to school and wondering what kind of person you would be if you hadn't and...

Those were my thoughts when I passed this book at the library and caught sight of the title.

But no, All I Really Need to Know is really a collection of essays that are based on ordinary and simple things including kindergarten (hence the title). The essays are all fairly short, but they are delightful to read and interesting to contemplate. The simplicity of it all is the partial reason for the attractiveness of this book.

Simple, simple, SIMPLE - that sums up the book. It is entertaining, intriguing, and delightful. A great read. You really just have to try it yourself.

Robert Fulghum’s message of this book was very simple but very powerful. He is correct in his statements about what we learned in our early years of development. We were taught to play fair, don’t cheat, be nice to others and don’t take what doesn’t belong to you. If only we had all held onto those beliefs. Fulghum’s ruminations on life are both powerful and poignant. He reminds us of the things that we once did to have fun and enjoy our lives. Like drawing and coloring with crayons and best of all taking naps. If each of us could hold onto that childlike being, we would all be happier individuals.