The Giving Tree - S.

8.5	Listal rating

Manufacturer : HarperCollins
Release date : 7 October 1992
ISBN-10 : 0060256656 | ISBN-13 : 9780060256654

Fiction (2), Picture Book (2), Friendship (2), Childrens (1), Illustrated (1), Inspirational (1), Children's (1), Sacrifice (1), Storybook (1), BookCrossing Release (1), Love (1), Kids (1), Classic (1)

Description

Amazon.com ReviewTo say that this particular apple tree is a "giving tree" is an understatement. In Shel Silverstein's popular tale of few words and simple line drawings, a tree starts out as a leafy playground, shade provider, and apple bearer for a rambunctious little boy. Making the boy happy makes the tree happy, but with time it Amazon.com Review
To say that this particular apple tree is a "giving tree" is an understatement. In Shel Silverstein's popular tale of few words and simple line drawings, a tree starts out as a leafy playground, shade provider, and apple bearer for a rambunctious little boy. Making the boy happy makes the tree happy, but with time it becomes more challenging for the generous tree to meet his needs. When he asks for money, she suggests that he sell her apples. When he asks for a house, she offers her branches for lumber. When the boy is old, too old and sad to play in the tree, he asks the tree for a boat. She suggests that he cut her down to a stump so he can craft a boat out of her trunk. He unthinkingly does it. At this point in the story, the double-page spread shows a pathetic solitary stump, poignantly cut down to the heart the boy once carved into the tree as a child that said "M.E. + T." "And then the tree was happy... but not really." When there's nothing left of her, the boy returns again as an old man, needing a quiet place to sit and rest. The stump offers up her services, and he sits on it. "And the tree was happy." While the message of this book is unclear (Take and take and take? Give and give and give? Complete self-sacrifice is good? Complete self-sacrifice is infinitely sad?), Silverstein has perhaps deliberately left the book open to interpretation. (All ages) --Karin Snelson

Product Description

'Once there was a tree...and she loved a little boy.'

So begins a story of unforgettable perception, beautifully written and illustrated by the gifted and versatile Shel Silverstein.

Every day the boy would come to the tree to eat her apples, swing from her branches, or slide down her trunk...and the tree was happy. But as the boy grew older he began to want more from the tree, and the tree gave and gave and gave.

This is a tender story, touched with sadness, aglow with consolation. Shel Silverstein has created a moving parable for readers of all ages that offers an affecting interpretation of the gift of giving and a serene acceptance of another's capacity to love in return.

Ages 10+

... (more)

Written by

S., Silverstein

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Ratings of The Giving Tree

8.5/10
16 global ratings

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Reviews of The Giving Tree - View all - Post review

MonarC87

The Controversy!

Posted : 2 years ago at Nov 28 9:36

"Is this a sad tale? Well, it is sad in the same way that life is sad. We are all needy, and, if we are lucky and any good, we grow old using others and getting used up. Tears fall in our lives like leaves from a tree. Our finitude is not something to be regretted or despised, however; it is what makes giving (and receiving) possible. The more you blame the boy, the more you have to fault human existence. The more you blame the tree, the more you have to fault the very idea of parenting. Should the tree's giving be contingent on the boy's gratitude? If it were, if fathers and mothers waited on reciprocity before caring for their young, then we would all be doomed." (Timothy Jackson, a professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University)

Rating : 10/10

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MonarC87

The Greatest Love of All

Posted : 2 years ago at Nov 28 9:34

Just reading the description brings me back to the tears I cried long ago when I read this. Such selflessness of unconditional love. A great and bountiful tree gives all that it has out of its love for the child. Her leaves, apples, her branches, trunk, everything for his happiness. The relationship between the tree and the boy is very much similiar to that between a mother and her child; despite getting nothing in return for a long time, the tree puts the boy's needs foremost. In the twilight of his death, the boy returns, when he is old and gray, when he is weary and his life is lived; he returns to the tree. Though when he does, she is as he left her, a stump, a shadow of what she was. She seems to be the saddest in that she has nothing more to offer him, but all he seeks is a place to ...Read more

Rating : 10/10

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