The Giving Tree

The Giving Tree
by Shel Silverstein

The Giving Tree
List Price: $16.99
Our Price: $0.75
You Save: $16.24 (96%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Shel Silverstein
Illustrator: Shel Silverstein
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1992-10-07
ISBN: 0060256656
Number of pages: 64
Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Publisher: HarperCollins
Product features:

Book Reviews of The Giving Tree

Book Review: GREAT BOOK!
Summary: 5 Stars

Looking forward to reading this to my neice and nephew - wonderful book - arrived in great condition.

Summary of 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.


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

General Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in General Books
Tear Soup ImageTear Soup
by Pat Schweibert, Chuck DeKlyen, Pat Schwiebert, Chuck DeKlyen, Taylor Bills, Pat Schwiebert
Grief Watch; Published: 2005-06-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.20
Price in other shops: $19.95
Harold and the Purple Crayon ImageHarold and the Purple Crayon
by Crockett Johnson
Published: 2009-04-09; Library Binding; Book
Best price: $15.99
You Are Special ImageYou Are Special
by Max Lucado
ZZCCANDLE BOOKS; Published: 2005-02-01; Hardcover; Book
The Monster at the End of this Book (Big Little Golden Book) ImageThe Monster at the End of this Book (Big Little Golden Book)
by Jon Stone
Golden Books; Published: 2004-05-11; Library Binding; Book
Best price: $8.88
Price in other shops: $10.99
The Going to Bed Book (Boynton) ImageThe Going to Bed Book (Boynton)
by Sandra Boynton
Little Simon; Published: 2004-09-06; Board book; Book
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops: $12.40
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom ImageChicka Chicka Boom Boom
by Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault
Beach Lane Books; Published: 2000-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.70
Price in other shops: $7.99
Star Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy ImageStar Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy
by Matthew Reinhart
Orchard Books; Published: 2007-10-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $20.46
Price in other shops: $34.99
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type ImageClick, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type
by Doreen Cronin
Simon & Schuster Children's; Published: 2003-06-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.69
Price in other shops: $10.35
Oh, the Places You'll Go! ImageOh, the Places You'll Go!
by Dr. Seuss
Tandem Library; Published: 1999-10; School & Library Binding; Book
Price in other shops: $27.10
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? ImageBrown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
by Bill Martin Jr.
Macmillan Young Listeners; Published: 2009-07-18; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $5.91
Price in other shops: $9.99
Similar Books and other products
Where the Sidewalk Ends (25th Anniversary Edition Book & CD) ImageWhere the Sidewalk Ends (25th Anniversary Edition Book & CD)
by Shel Silverstein
HarperCollins; Published: 2000-10-31; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.46
Price in other shops: $22.99
A Light in the Attic (20th Anniversary Edition Book & CD) ImageA Light in the Attic (20th Anniversary Edition Book & CD)
by Shel Silverstein
HarperCollins; Published: 2001-10-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.46
Price in other shops: $22.99
A Giraffe and a Half ImageA Giraffe and a Half
by Shel Silverstein
HarperCollins; Published: 1964-11-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.82
Price in other shops: $16.99
The Missing Piece (An Ursula Nordstrom Book) ImageThe Missing Piece (An Ursula Nordstrom Book)
by Shel Silverstein
HarperCollins; Published: 1976-05-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops: $16.99
Harold and the Purple Crayon 50th Anniversary Edition (Purple Crayon Books) ImageHarold and the Purple Crayon 50th Anniversary Edition (Purple Crayon Books)
by Crockett Johnson
HarperCollins; Published: 1981-05-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.13
Price in other shops: $6.99
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day ImageAlexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
by Judith Viorst
INGRAM BOOK & DISTRIBUTOR; Atheneum; Published: 1987-07-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.50
Price in other shops: $7.99
A Light in the Attic ImageA Light in the Attic
by Shel Silverstein
HarperCollins; Published: 1981-10-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.98
Price in other shops: $18.99
Falling Up ImageFalling Up
by Shel Silverstein
HarperCollins; Published: 1996-05-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.98
Price in other shops: $18.99
Where the Wild Things Are ImageWhere the Wild Things Are
by Maurice Sendak
HARPER COLLINS PUBLISHERS; Harper Collins; Published: 1988-11-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.92
Price in other shops: $17.95
Where the Sidewalk Ends 30th Anniversary Edition: Poems and Drawings ImageWhere the Sidewalk Ends 30th Anniversary Edition: Poems and Drawings
by Shel Silverstein
HarperCollins; Published: 2004-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.10
Price in other shops: $18.99