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Fill a Bucket: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Young Children by Carol McCloud – Book Review

Erin 2 Comments

Fill a BucketREVIEW OF THE BOOK: Fill a Bucket
Author: Carol McCloud & Katherine Martin, M.A.
Illustrator: David Messing
Published by: Ferne Press  www.bucketfillers101.com
Released: (originally 2008) 2015 – 5th Printing
Ages: 1 – 5 years
Order from Chapters/Indigo, Amazon.ca or Amazon.com*

From the Publisher:

This award-winning and simplified prequel to Have You Filled a Bucket Today? is the perfect gift for anyone with little ones they love.  When children have their buckets filled and learn how they can fill other people’s buckets too, they understand how special, valuable, and capable they are.

Description:

The main difference between this edition and the more advanced Have You Filled a Bucket Today? is that it does not introduce the topic of bucket-dipping (emptying other’s or one’s own bucket due to negative actions/words).  It emphasizes the importance of filling buckets and is an excellent beginning primer for discussing the impact of words/actions on others and self.

My Experience:

The book includes instructions for fun song (to the tune of Frere Jacques or Are you sleeping?), which my daughter loved and I have caught her singing a few times since – a sure sign of a winner. Nearing 4, she really responded well to this book.  She got it after the first read-through.  We spent a long time afterwards generating examples of ‘bucket-filling’ and placed it in the context of her day.  She was able to articulate several examples that were relevant and proved to us that she “got it”.  We have come up with a plan to remind her throughout the day about the importance of “filling buckets”.  This is a superb book to use with all toddlers – it can be easily expanded for older kids (though there are more advanced versions for kids over age 4 and another simplified version for babies) and can be scaffolded for all ages.  It would be a great support to use with children who are impulsive, struggling with bullying behaviours, have a negative self-dialogue, etc.  It is a powerful resource to have on hand as part of a pre-school or kindergarten classroom, home or community library.  I highly recommend this title as a primer for discussing with children how our words and actions impact others!

     Likes:

  • simple, positive message presents to children how we all have feelings and that our actions/words affect our own feelings and those of the people we come into contact with
  • bright, colourful illustrations effectively showcase the message
  • the point is stated and re-stated in multiple ways to ensure clarity of message

     Dislikes:

  • none – I was originally wondering why some of the inanimate objects like dolls and teddy bears were shown as having buckets, but I have since concluded that their purpose is to enable kids to practice being kind to them in their imaginative play, etc.
Buckets for Valentine's Day
Object Lesson In Action! – Colleen created these buckets as an activity for Valentine’s Day to accompany the lessons in this book

Why/How Use it with kids:

  • use this as a basic primer to begin discussions of values and character development
  • have children give examples of how they have filled other people’s buckets
  • discuss at the beginning of the day and plan how to ‘fill buckets’ that day
  • review the day at bedtime. What examples of bucket filling can the child think of ?
  • have kids draw/visually represent their own idea of filling a bucket
  • Get your own bucket(s) as an object lesson and think of ways to fill them (write notes, etc.)

Other books in this series that I have reviewed:

  • Have You Filled a Bucket Today? (ages 4-9)
  • Growing up with a Bucket Full of Happiness (ages 9+)

About the Authors:

Carol McCloud: Since her first book, Have You Filled a Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids, was published in 2006, Carol McCloud has authored or coauthored seven additional books on “bucket filling.” With a small team of educators, she travels around the world with one goal in mind: to help create happier lives. Carol is a graduate of Oakland University School of Education (Rochester, MI), a certified Emotional Intelligence Trainer, and long-time member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Carol lives with her husband, Jack, in Venice, Florida and spends summers in Brighton, Michigan.

Katherine Martin, M.A., is a youth and adolescent specialist, and a licensed professional counselor, with over twenty years of experience in working with children.

Order from Chapters/Indigo, Amazon.ca or Amazon.com*

~Erin

*Affiliate Links – see disclosure page

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Related

Books about Values, Children's Book Reviews, Picture Books (Ages 2 - 6) children, emotions, Family, feelings, friendship, illustrations, kids, mothers, parenting, Picture Book, read-aloud, Starred Review, toddler, toddlers

Comments

  1. Sara says

    February 9, 2017 at 8:19 pm

    Great review! We have a different version of this book for my five year old with autism. It’s a great visual for him! I think I’ll have to get this one for my younger son!

    Reply
    • Erin says

      February 9, 2017 at 8:20 pm

      Thanks, Sara! Loving the series and the message it presents. I’m going to get plastic buckets as visuals for my littles!

      Reply

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