The Giving Tree

Book Cover: 

Book Title: The Giving Tree

Book Summary: A young boy finds a tree, and he finds a friend within the tree.  They play games, like hide-in-seek, the little boy eats the apples, makes crowns out of leaves, climbs on the branches.  And the little boy grows up and asks for things of the tree.  Every time the boy asks the tree gives, until one day the tree has nothing left to give but a place to sit for the old man that was once the young boy. 

APA Reference:

Slivertein, S. (1964). The Giving Tree (50th Anniversary ed.). Harper Collins Publishers.

My Impressions:  I have always loved this book.  The simplicity of the story and the pictures but captivated me.  The story is simple with only a few sentences per page.  It is a sad story about a little boy how grows up and loses his childhood and in the process loses his childhood tree.  When I read it it as a kid it filled me with hope in a strange way, I would find love, and have a kid, and grow up.  When I read it as an adult I am longer filled with the hope that I got when I was a child, I feel sad for the tree because the little boy grew up and longer wanted to be with the tree. 

  

Professional Review:

School Library Journal January 1, 2015

K Up--Several classic tales from Silverstein are celebrating anniversaries, most notably The Giving Tree, still popular at 50. Though this spare but tender allegory for the parent/child relationship still occupies a celebrated place on bookshelves, it's a divisive title, with some critics finding the boy selfish and narcissistic and others even positing that the work represents our destructive relationship with nature. Other new releases employ Silverstein's trademark humor, such as Lafcadio, a laugh-out-loud tale of a sharpshooting lion, now in its 50th year. Dreamers, wishers, liars, hope-ers, pray-ers, and magic bean buyers are in for a treat: Where the Sidewalk Ends, Silverstein's funny, lyrical, and downright bizarre poetry collection, turns 40, and this newest edition contains 12 extra poems. At 50, A Giraffe and a Half and Who Wants a Cheap Rhinoceros? have yet to show their age; these picture books are ridiculous in all the best ways. Finally, meet the Wild Gazite, the Pointy-Peaked Pavarius, and the Long-Necked Preposterous, in Don't Bump the Glump!: And Other Fantasies, Silverstein's first poetry collection-and the only one in full color-whose arresting wordplay and images are wonderfully disconcerting. (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Citation:

Roundup: Refreshing reissues. (2015). School Library Journal, 61(1), 61-n/a. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1640131742?accountid=7113

Library Uses: I would use this book for inferencing, What do you think the boy will ask for next?  Why do you think that the tree gave it to the boy?  Why is the boy asking for that?  Should he ask that of the tree?