BOOK NAME: HAVE YOU FILLED A BUCKET TODAY?
AUTHOR: CAROL MCCLOUD
ILLUSTRATOR: DAVID MESSING
PAGES: 32
PUBLISHER: NELSON PUBLISHING & MARKETING
AGE RECOMMENDED: 4+
Have you filled your bucket? is it a beautiful book that emphasis filling each person’s invisible bucket? So what’s an invisible bucket? Each day, every person around the world carries an invisible bucket that contains feelings. When our bucket is full, we feel great. When our bucket is empty, we feel sad. A bucket filler is someone who says or does nice things for other people. By doing this, they are filling other people’s buckets and filling their own buckets at the same time. A bucket-dipper is someone who makes another person sad by bullying or pushing or not being helpful. Here, the other person’s bucket is filled and the bullies bucket becomes empty. Carol beautifully explained kindness, happiness, and empathy with a metaphor.
What makes this book a bestseller? A Few weeks back, Nathan was so irritated to talk and we read a book ‘I am using my words’. There were a few reminders to use his words and eventually he overcame that and stopped hitting us. Then he again started to hit us when he felt frustrated or when we were not paying attention to him. I picked this book at the right time and It was a glorious read for us. He could understand the concept of a bucket and I started to remind him about his bucket being full or it’s dripping.
This reminder is a daily long process and still, sometimes he will be a bucket dripper and I hope soon he can adapt to the new lifestyle of being indoors and use the resources around him.
Apart from using the bucket as a disciplinary measure, I would love to ask him how is his bucket today? Is it filled with happiness or is it filled with frustration? When he did good work, he was reminded that his bucket is getting filled and this helped him to acknowledge the different feelings he went through each day.
The illustrations are gorgeous and they represent different races and also people with disabilities also.
Just like I always end, kid’s books are for adults too—this book is a perfect reminder for us to fill our bucket positively.
The bucket fillers website offers free printables, which you can use while you are reading this book. To access them CLICK HERE
To read more reviews CLICK HERE
