He sees many different sea animals at the bottom of his bucket, whilst his parents laugh away at what he's describing.

This book is perfect for children in Key Stage 1 as it encourages children to use their imagination. Used for maths with introducing capacity and in English writing stories about what's in your bucket. We used a map to find attractions in South Shields including; The Word, Arbeia Roman Fort and the South Shields Museum and Art Gallery. When he found the special one he was looking for he filled it with water and then he could see many amazing things.In many ways it reinforces the idea that this book was written to be read aloud and enjoyed by groups of children all listening to it together in unison. This is a classic 'low thresh-hold, high ceiling' book which can be used as a basis to form many activities - from arts and craft such as filling their own bucket, to deeper discussion delving around the need to accumulate the more typical 'stuff'. They offer suggestions of other more regular run-of-the-mill gifts but he sticks to his original request. Anyone would think that Billy is just using his imagination once they hear what he says is in the bucket but he is actually telling the truth! When Billy fills his bucket with water, it sets in motion mystical forces that defy the laws of nature.

Children could bring in their own buckets and decide what kind of things they would like to imagine being inside it.His parents laugh it off, but when they borrow the bucket, they have a whale of a problem on their hands. If read aloud to a group, I really feel that it will breathe animation to the words on the pages of the book. We finished the day reading one of our favourite stories from the Autumn term, Somebody Swallowed Stanley. In the same way as the game I went to market and I bought adds a new item with each turn play ‘In Billy’s bucket there was’ with children.

The premise of the story (a young boy wanting a bucket for his birthday) captivates the reader, and it keeps us right up until the end. Parents need to make sure they are listening to their children and allowing them to play as they please.This book could be used as an opening lesson to creative writing, allowing children to recreate their own stories and their own magical watery worlds to share with their peers. This week, Year 1 have read the story ‘Billy’s Bucket’ and thought about the seaside in our Geography topic. The book beautifully captures children's use of their imagination and takes the reader on an adventure on what can been seen inside Billy's bucket. After discussing the things to do in South Shields, we created a mind map featuring attractions and facts.