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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+
Amazon.com
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
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Good for the parent and the child, 2008-07-03
There are not many books for this age group that the parent gets more out if it than the child.
The Giving tree is an great story that is hard for young ones to comprehend the first time through, but still fun to hear. As you read it over and over to them will understand and appreciate it more.
This has many similarities to stories like Dr. Suess' "The Lorax"
Stories like these are inspirations for content I create on the [...] storybooks site.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
The Giving Tree, 2008-06-21
I have used Amazon for many purchases and have been very pleased with the service. They are right on target and I haven't had a problem at all.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
A book for all ages, 2008-06-19
It's a book about giving selflessly which we all need to learn to do in a society where everything is give to get. It is a highly benign book that delivers a good message on a multiple levels. A boy, (a spoiled brat) asks for bigger things each time until finally the tree says it has nothing to offer but everything, a place for a rest.
I believe this book is not a children's book that you leave behind as you grow-up but a book that you grow-up with. I'm in my mid-30's reading this book to my daughter as did my mom when I was their age. But I'm more impacted by this book now then when I was my daughter's age of 3 because that now I understand more about life. I know it's going to have a different impact when I'm 50 or 60 and until when I'm so old that all I need is a place of rest.
Ever since the book was published, there was controversy for its interpreted messages, for portraying a vicious, one-sided relationship between the tree and the boy; with the tree as the selfless giver and the boy as a greedy and never-satisfied being who constantly receives, yet never gives anything back to the tree. Everyone wants to be the `tree' and not the boy, but in fact, the `boy' is a reflection of us which we avoid admitting.
We, at any age, can learn from this book. We might fall into a loop-hole where we try to justify our selfish motives to `succeed' when put under scrutiny. In the end, if everyone tries to live like the `tree' we would rest knowing that we succeeded in this life.
15 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
You are the Giving Tree, she said., 2008-06-07
"Sophomore year I entered your classroom playing the role of a student," she wrote. "I will never forget that red-headed teacher that pushed me to do a little more...."
This is part of the inscription that Allison wrote inside the front cover of "The Giving Tree." I had Allison as a student for three years in three different subjects. She presented this book to me at the end of her senior year. "You are the Giving Tree," she said. Read every word of this book because it is about you and me." I cried, of course, as I read the book.
In his complete innocence a little boy loves a tree for herself. Generously, she returns his love through gifts of self: her leaves for laurel crowns, her branches as a swing, her apples as food, games, rest. But time changes things. The boy turns his heart to love of girls, money, a house, a boat, and finally a simple place to rest.
Although his art is simple, Shel Silverstein's ideas are profound. This tree has given her all, everything, her totality to this child. Just think of this tree as mother, grandmother, teacher, and any other selfless adult in a child's life.
For that selflessness and because Allison celebrated mine, I dedicate this review to all the teachers who care and give selflessly of themselves. This is appropriate at the end of another school year when teachers are utterly exhausted. But by the end of summer they will throw themselves completely into teaching your children once again, refreshed physically and mentally, rejuvenated to their purpose, and eager to embrace their destiny: teaching your children whom they hold dear.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
The Giving Tree, 2008-05-30
Have you ever wanted to learn more about how to be a true friend? Well, have I got a book for you! I recently read the fiction book The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. The characters are a boy (who grows old) and a tree that might be in the boy's backyard. The boy and the tree have a friendship that lasts over a lifetime. The tree gives the boy all that he needs, and she is happy when he is happy. By reading this book, I learned how important it is to appreciate your friends. I recommend this book to people who already appreciate their friends, because they know that true friendships can last a lifetime.
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