bucket filling around the world

A Chinese proverb states:

"If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person. If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house.  If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation.  If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world."

People with full buckets tend to be have light in their soul.

People whose buckets are full tend to use kind words and voices.  They tend to have helpful hands and feet.  They seem to have fun interacting with others.  They seem to be happy.

This week we read Have You Filled a Bucket Today?  We will be reading it a few more times during the year.  They did get how being nice to others helps you feel good about yourself.  And that nasty behaviour makes you feel pretty yucky.

While this is an excellent book, it is not my choice for Susanna Hill's Perfect Picture Book Friday.

This week's perfect picture book is Will You Fill My Bucket?  Daily Acts of Love from Around the World.

written  by Carol McCloud and Karen Wells

illustrated by Penny Webber

published by Ferne Press (2012)

juvenile non-fiction

suitable for ages 3 - 7

themes  love, self worth, parent-child relationship, family

opening lines  

Children around the world ask

"Will you fill my bucket and make me happy too?

Will you fill my bucket with the love that comes from you?"

synopsis 

from the back cover

A simple question, "Will you fill my bucket" is fervently asked by children from 12 different countries.  Sweet rhyming prose and vividly captivating illustrations delight the senses and express the deep joy and love we hope for all children.  

source: blogher.com

Will You Fill My Bucket fit in perfectly with our class discussions about peace on a personal, community and global level, and being aware of children and families in other countries, our similarities and our differences.
  

I like this book because ... 
The simple text is clean and focuses on the love connection between parent and child.  Each child's request for an expression of love is answered, filling the child's bucket, and enabling that child to be able to love others.

We see that children all over the world need to know that they are loved.  And that their parents want to love them.

The water colour illustrations are warm and cheerful, inviting the reader to identify with all the parents/caregivers and their children.  

It is a good reminder of the bucket filling responsibility that I have with the 20 small people I spend my days with.  (or, for the grammar police, "with whom I spend my days")

resources ...

There are lots of great toys that help children see that not everyone looks like or lives like them.  I want my kidlets to get a 5 year old, living in a small town in a rural setting, global perspective. 

 children around the world puzzle from Melissa and Doug

 felt dolls with international clothing from the StoryTeller

I Never Forget a Face memory game

world music for children

my favourite track is Waltzing Matilda in Aborigine

children of the world

our global peace project connects us to children in other parts of the world

stay tuned ...