The Giving Tree

"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.

I fell in love with this book the first time it was read to me, and my feelings have never changed. As I child I knew it was a sad book, but I didn't know why. Now that I am an adult, I can understand the cost of unconditional love and I know why the tree was sad. The fact that this book inspires so much debate is a testament to the power of Shel Silverstein's writing. There is a lesson in this book and a powerful message. For me, the key point is that in the end, the love the tree had for the boy was vindicated by his return- older, wiser, and more appreciative. My mother bought me this book when I was young because she thought it had a poignant lesson to teach. My mother tells me that the tree is every mother, and that the sadness felt by the tree is the sadness every mother feels when her child grows up and grows apart. She says every mother's hope is that her child will return someday, wanting nothing more than to to sit together in silence and to be happy. Anyone who has ever loved someone enough to let them go will understand the painful choice highlighted in The Giving Tree.

I love this book and I give it to special people in my life to celebrate our friendship. I higly recommend this book to adult and child alike.


Sweet, sad story of unconditional love   December 29, 2003
 49 out of 88 found this review helpful

I read this book to my two year old son for the first time a few years ago. The obvious metaphor, that of the tree being a mother whose son is destined to leave her someday, struck me right off. I was tearing up about halfway through. What mother of any child -- male or female -- doesn't secretly dread that far-off event, even while it signals a positive step in the natural order of things? That's a universal theme and part of nearly everybody's life at one time. So maybe it's a little manipulative on that level.

After I was done reading my boy bounced up and went into our back yard to play. In passing he actually stopped and hugged the big old pepper tree! At that point I realized a new metaphor for this story, and a deeper level of meaning to it that had touched me as well. You see, the tree also represents God. He loves us from the beginning of our lives and nurtures us with wholesome gifts (represented here by apples and leaves) and we accept this with joy that gives His love right back. Children have that universally satisfying relationship with God even while they may have no name for it. They are able to simply enjoy the truly important things in a way adults have trouble with.

You'll notice that when the boy gets a little older he spends less and less time with the Tree. His growing up signals the start of worldliness and materialism. He comes back as a teenager and asks for money. Then he comes back and asks for a house, and later a boat. The things of the world never truly satisfy him the way fellowship with the Tree did earlier, but it takes a while to realize this. In the end, he recognizes the truth and comes back to the only source of true love and peace he ever really had, and can accept the simple pleasure of sitting with the Tree once again. In the same way, we get distracted by worldly concerns and materialism as adults and tend to stray from God, only to realize after the best years of our life are spent that we should have spent more of them with Him.

God's selfless, unconditional love for His children (and the generally ungrateful attitude we throw right back most of the time) is so poignantly portrayed by this metaphor of the Giving Tree that I think it's better than any metaphor I've found in the bible! In the deepest sense, my tears were in recognition of my own ingratitude and selfishness as contrasted by the love of God. For one small minute, I was able to see the human condition from His perspective and weep for it. That was precious to me, and something I will always have Silverstein to thank for.

I can understand the interpretations of The Giving Tree from an environmental perspective and from a feminist perspective as well, and understand why so many people object to it. Truthfully, we don't really know which of these many messages Shel Silverstein intended, or if he even believed in God or not. But God does work in mysterious ways, and I truly believe He used Shel's work to send a message of His own to those of us who can receive it.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle


To call this book REPUGNANT would be an understatement   January 15, 2002
 40 out of 69 found this review helpful

If your aim is to mold a small, impressionable child into a self-absorbed narcissist, then this is certainly the book you've been seeking. The story illustrates how it's perfectly acceptable to be completely selfish and to exploit those who love you. As Gordon Gecko said, "Greed is good!"

Lesson 1 - How Life Works: You are free to take all that other people may be willing to give to you out of their own unselfish love for you. If someone is willing to make sacifices because he/she loves you, just use it to your advantage; there is no price for you to pay. In fact, not only can you get away with taking anything-and-everything your little heart desires from those who love you, but afterwards you are free to simply abandon them without explanation. Even then, if you should ever think of something *else* you'd like to have that they might be able to help you acquire, just swing by for a quick visit and ask them for it; it'll be perfectly okay. Trust me, they'll be thrilled that you merely dropped by.

Lesson 2 - Giving Back: You need give nothing in return, because it's YOUR happiness that's paramount to all. When someone who loves you is sad or lonely or in need, that does not matter; the only thing that matters in life is your happiness. Just ignore others' troubles, even when you are (and i use this deliciously ironic word intentionally) responsible. Instead, focus solely on having fun and indulging your whims at the expense of those who love you.

The Cherry On Top: No matter how badly you may have treated them, no matter how ruthlessly you may have exploited them, no matter how cruelly you may have neglected them, the people who love you will ALWAYS love you. No matter what, they will always be happy to see you again, to be near you once more, to indulge you, to comfort you, to shower you with unconditional love.

Here endeth the lessons.