Ah, August, the best (worst) month of the year. The month of feeling stress and anxiety over running out of time to finish the work that must be done while September looming over your shoulder. Back-to-school season is lingering around the corner like some ghoul from a horror movie. Parents are busy, educators are busy, even kids are busy trying to squeeze out the last drops of summer vacation. Cardinal Rule Press is busy as well, with the titles that have been released recently or will be released very soon. A wonderful part about Cardinal Rule Press’s titles is the free reader’s guides that come with their books– which include lesson plans to go along with the book of choice. Yes, that’s right, you heard over the loud whirring of your fans to keep you cool (unless you’re reading from somewhere where the weather isn’t so hot, which, if so, I’m jealous)– lesson plans.
First off are the Bucket Filler titles, which were recently acquired back in July. You might recognize the well-loved title, Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud. If you haven’t read or heard of this book before, it describes how every person in the world carries an invisible bucket, and that when good things happen to them, that bucket fills and makes them happy. It also tells children about how they can do things to fill other people’s buckets to make them happy. There are Spanish and French editions of this title also available.
Add more to your bucket!
Other books in the collection include: Fill a Bucket; Buckets, Dippers, and Lids; Best Bucket Filler Ever!; Bucket Filling from A to Z; WIll You Fill My Bucket?; Growing Up with a Bucket Full of Happiness; and more! This is a great way to teach children about empathy, and has plenty of different choices for an accompanying book.
Here’s what one of our reviewers, Rebecca M., says of Have You Filled a Bucket Today?: “Prescriptive rather than narrative, the book is full of examples and ideas. It makes space for all children, in service of its belief that everyone makes choices about whether to be a bucket filler or a bucket dipper.”
The day is growing nearer and nearer for the September 1st release of Three Pockets Full by Cindy L. Rodriguez, which is currently available for pre-order! This title is about a young boy named Beto, who is preparing for his mother’s remarriage and refusing to wear a guayabera, a traditional wedding shirt. This story discusses accepting aspects of one’s culture and new family dynamics.
Tick off from from this list of 101 books your family will surely enjoy. Download your FREE Printable Here!
What author Padma Venkatraman says of the book
“This is a story with a small mystery and a big heart, about the small steps we might take to confront big emotional hurdles, and, above all, about the strength that love gives us when we act out of our love for others. Beto’s journey ties together many disparate themes: embracing change, being proud of our cultural traditions, and having the courage to confront the morass of feeling that familial connections might evoke within even the youngest readers.”
Finally, What the Bread Says by Vanessa Garcia will be released in October and is also currently available to preorder. This is a sweet story about the characters Papan and Vanessa, who bake different kinds of bread from around the world together as Papan tells stories about the places the recipes are from, showing how food can mean so much more than just something to fill your stomach.
Richard B. says, “This heart-warming book lovingly reveals the poetry of bread that is not merely a staple at our dinner tables, but a staple of our very humanity which, like poetry, satiates our universal need to share stories, connect with one another, and understand our past and present.”
Which one sounds like a favorite so far? Check out the titles here if you have the time between filling out your planners and doing your back-to-school shopping before everything sells and you’re picking through the bottom of the barrel. A very sad farewell to summer– but perhaps we can find ways to have fun even as we enter fall soon, too.
Don’t forget to download your FREE Printable Here!
Chloe Kukuk, an upcoming junior majoring in public relations and English at Oakland University, is an editorial and marketing intern at the Cardinal Rule Press. When she’s not studying or working, she loves taking trips to the bookstore and lazing around the house with her three wonderful cats.