The Giving Tree

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Manufacturer: HarperCollins

Average Customer Rating:

Binding: Hardcover
EAN: 9780060256654
ISBN: 0060256656
Label: HarperCollins
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 64
Publication Date: 1992-10-07
Publisher: HarperCollins
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Release Date: 1964-10-07
Studio: HarperCollins

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Editorial Reviews:

'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+

Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating:

Summary: I can't believe this book was in the Childrens section
Comment: My little girl is four years old. I was strolling around the book store looking for simple books to read. I picked this book up after only reading the first few pages. With the simple syntax and simple line drawings, I thought this would be a book we could read at bed time. Toward the end of the book, I shut it and picked another bedtime book to read her. This story may be representative of real life, the aging of a relationship, we all grow old and pass away, or maybe it is a metaphor for some co-dependent relationship, what ever. I will not be reading it to my daughter again. I'll put it high on the shelf and let her find it later in life. This book did not belong in the small childrens section. The book was not placed there by mistake as there was an entire stack of them. I thought the story was excellent, and I had mixed emotions when I finished reading it but it is not for young sensitive children. My daughter is part of a diviorced family and I think it would have a negative impact on her little mind as she is trying to figure her own life out as things already exist.

Definitely not for small children!

Customer Rating:

Summary: great message!!
Comment: Also donated to a local charity--they are collecting books for a holiday raffle this year...
It is one of childrens' favorites!

Customer Rating:

Summary: not so controversial actually......
Comment: i'm a child psychology major. anyone who says this is bad for a child is obviously reading way too much into the book, and does not realize children are not capable of doing the same. this is actually a very good book for children. shame on you people and your awful thoughts.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Its a great book, with a great philosophy. Read between the lines.
Comment: The moral of the story is touching, its a great gift to give a parent.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Embarassing Parenthood
Comment: I just read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein for the first time. Now, I do remember having the book read to me at the public library when I was little, and I am pretty sure it was featured in Reading Rainbow, so the story is not new to me. However, since this is the first time I ever read the story on the other side of parenthood, I was surprised by my overwhelming emotional reaction to the book. I read it as a bedtime story to my two lovely girls and I wept for the brief interval of time where I can help form them as young Christian ladies.

More surprising to me than my emotional response, was how I understand the Tree much better now. As a child, I guess I pitied the tree and sympathized with the boy. I simply expected that the Tree enjoyed helping the boy so the Tree was happy. Now I know that the Tree did enjoy helping the boy, but that the Tree suffered as the boy grew since the boy grew further away. I guess The Giving Tree taught me the lesson of love which I only absorb intellectually from the tree of the cross. Successful love, like successful parenting, involves suffering. The better I do my job of raising my daughters into mature, independent ladies, the more I will miss these years of providing everything for them.

Reprinted with permission from http://naturalfamilylife.blogspot.com

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