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Caterpillar Kisses: Lessons My Kindergarten Class Taught Me About Life
“When [my kindergartners] left me, they left me with the most wonderful memories and the imprints of their kisses upon my heart. To me, the blessed little events, the tiny magical moments, and the wonderful quick coincidences were like kisses.” —From the Introduction
A former kindergarten teacher, Christine Pisera Naman watched over many classes of five-year-olds as they made their way through the school year and discovered new things about themselves and the world around them. In Caterpillar Kisses , she turns her observations and insights into twelve delightful real-life vignettes, one for each month of the year.
The stories bring to life events, large and small, that help these wiggly, unsure caterpillars grow into beautiful and confident butterflies. From a first trip to the zoo to making angels in the snow, the kids embrace every new experience with all the silliness, enthusiasm, and wonder familiar to anyone who has spent time with a five-year-old. Naman explores the more difficult moments of childhood as well, offering sensitive, reassuring stories about the fear of thunderstorms and encountering death for the first time. Life lessons are tucked within everyday activities, including a hilarious session of learning (literally) how to walk in the other guy’s shoes and another emphasizing the importance of making others feel accepted. But the students are not the only ones undergoing change. During the course of the year, their teacher learns the best way to deal with too many “apples for the teacher” and comes to understand the true meaning of spirituality and the simple joy of dancing in the rain.
Alternately laugh-out-loud funny and poignant, Caterpillar Kisses illustrates the good things that come from looking at life through the eyes of children. It is perfect for anyone looking for the magic in everyday life.
“Luminous! Sometimes, when spending time with children, it is just so clear that they are our teachers. Caterpillar Kisses shows us some of the small but tender lessons we stumble upon during the metamorphosis that occurs each and every day in a young child’s life.”
—Ann S. Ruethling, founder and vice president of merchandising, Chinaberry, Inc.
A former kindergarten teacher, Christine Pisera Naman watched over many classes of five-year-olds as they made their way through the school year and discovered new things about themselves and the world around them. In Caterpillar Kisses , she turns her observations and insights into twelve delightful real-life vignettes, one for each month of the year.
The stories bring to life events, large and small, that help these wiggly, unsure caterpillars grow into beautiful and confident butterflies. From a first trip to the zoo to making angels in the snow, the kids embrace every new experience with all the silliness, enthusiasm, and wonder familiar to anyone who has spent time with a five-year-old. Naman explores the more difficult moments of childhood as well, offering sensitive, reassuring stories about the fear of thunderstorms and encountering death for the first time. Life lessons are tucked within everyday activities, including a hilarious session of learning (literally) how to walk in the other guy’s shoes and another emphasizing the importance of making others feel accepted. But the students are not the only ones undergoing change. During the course of the year, their teacher learns the best way to deal with too many “apples for the teacher” and comes to understand the true meaning of spirituality and the simple joy of dancing in the rain.
Alternately laugh-out-loud funny and poignant, Caterpillar Kisses illustrates the good things that come from looking at life through the eyes of children. It is perfect for anyone looking for the magic in everyday life.
“Luminous! Sometimes, when spending time with children, it is just so clear that they are our teachers. Caterpillar Kisses shows us some of the small but tender lessons we stumble upon during the metamorphosis that occurs each and every day in a young child’s life.”
—Ann S. Ruethling, founder and vice president of merchandising, Chinaberry, Inc.
- GenresEducation
112 pages, Hardcover
First published April 5, 2005
1 person is currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
Christine Pisera Naman
10 books9 followersBestselling author Christine Pisera Naman is a wife to a beautiful man named Peter and a mother to three fantastic kids named Jason, Natalie and Trevor. In her free time, she enjoys crocheting, which she does poorly; painting, again poorly; and volunteering at her local hospital, which she hopes she does well. She is the author of the Faces of Hope series of books that are now housed in the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York City. Her other works include Caterpillar Kisses, Christmas Lights, The Novena and The Believers. About Natalie is her heart poured onto paper
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 13, 2011
Found this book at a used bookstore when we visited Bellingham last August. Great book with simple and beautiful writing. Christine could picture the stories through her words so well and I love some humanity (teacherhood-parenthood) touches there. I would put 5 stars to this short-stories book but I so disagree of the "politically correctness" influence inside the book where there's no saying "Christian" or "Christianity" while it's clear and obvious that she talked about Christianity (and Christian religion) there. She only put "religion" word to describe it. Say whatever you want to say, I'm not being a blunt-fanatic person, but "political correctness" is too much!
February 27, 2011
Adorable. Heartwarming.
March 28, 2011
Such a sweet book.
August 14, 2011
I LOVED this book! So sweet and so touching for a K teacher. Best gift from a parent bar none!
January 3, 2014
By far the cutest and heart warming book I've ever read❤️
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews