Cardinal Rule Press is growing! We’re thrilled about our exciting recent acquisition of the bestselling Bucket Fillers books. Have You Filled a Bucket Today? is the first in a long line of beloved picture books that encourage children to be kind and thoughtful in how they treat others. 

We think the concept of Bucket Filling seamlessly pairs with the Cardinal Rule Press mission, which is to provide messages of empowerment to families, schools and communities through inspirational children’s books and educational programs and events that support our books’ heartening themes.

The Bucket Filler movement is a social-emotional philosophy that starts with a simple premise: we all have invisible buckets that we carry with us, and we all have the power to fill our buckets, along with other people’s buckets, with kind words and caring actions. 

The extensive collection of books includes the original book that started the whole Bucket Filler way of thinking: Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud. When we demonstrate positive character traits, we fill our own buckets and the buckets of everyone around us. This best-selling, award-winning picture book uses child-friendly metaphors to illustrate how our words and actions matter, and how we can show up as our best selves every day. 

Have You Filled a Bucket Today? is a popular book for school programs, social-emotional lessons, speaker programs, library activities, and household libraries. It’s also available in Spanish and French, for multilingual reading enjoyment. Educators from all over have put together creative, engaging ways to use the Bucket Fillers books with children. 

Here are two favorite activities we found that bring an emphasis on kindness and treating one another according to The Golden Rule to the forefront. Education.com created a great lesson plan for introducing the Bucket Filler philosophy to students and Proud to be Primary has hands-on ways for children to practice being Bucket Fillers, while discussing why it matters to fill buckets. 

Teachers and librarians aren’t the only ones who love Have You Filled A Bucket Today? We appreciate these words of support from book reviewers! 

 “Children are not the only ones that need to learn how to be truly happy. It’s all in the bucket, that invisible bucket that follows you everywhere. Carol McCloud has written a delightful story, colorfully illustrated by David Messing. Have You Filled A Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids teaches young readers valuable lessons about giving, sharing, and caring. This guide to daily happiness, though, is not just for kids. We all need reminders of the benefits of positive thinking and positive behavior. It’s an important lesson to teach and remind us all, from time to time, that showing kindness and appreciation of others goes a long way to making this world a happier place for everyone, including ourselves. A classic tale, beautifully told and beautifully shared.” -  Emily-Jane Hills Orford of Readers' Favorite. 

‘Have You Filled a Bucket Today?’ is a helpful guidebook for young children about how to be happy in their daily lives, demonstrating its tools in action and leaving children with actionable advice. – Rebecca Monterusso, Clarion Foreword Book Reviews

We hope you’ll check out Have You Filled a Bucket Today? When you do, tell us what you think! You can always reach out to Cardinal Rule Press on social media and via our website.

Christie Megill is an editorial and marketing intern at Cardinal Rule Press and she spends most of her spare time reading children’s books. She has experience as a writer, elementary school teacher, curriculum developer, and literacy specialist.