The Giving Tree
by Shel Silverstein
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Book Reviews of The Giving Tree
Book Review: This is not a children's book
Summary: 1 Stars
Is self-sacrifice for someone you love beautiful? Yes.
Is the tree acting like a parent? Yes.
Well, then...bittersweet sacrifice...great moral..."the end," right? Uh, no...the boy in the story is cruel, selfish, and indifferent. He grows up to be a cruel, selfish, and indifferent man. Along the way, he killed the tree.
If the book made any sense at all, the last page would have the boy hugging the stump and saying, "You were always my best friend," or "Thank you, tree," but he doesn't.
Now, would you take and take and take from a friendly tree, up to and including killing it, and never give anything back? I wouldn't. So the book makes no sense, as would a story of a boy and his friendly dog, that we could call, "The Giving Dog," and the dog does everything for him that he can. The dog fetches things, pulls a sled, and then the boy hacks the dog's arms and legs off and barbeques them, kills the dog to sell its coat, and makes a keychain out of the dogs' bones.
Oh, bittersweet dog...gave so much...how beautiful.
What about this horrible kid?
What if it was called "The Giving Aunt," and the boy takes everything she has, makes her sell her house, empties her bank account, leaves her to die and then sits on her tombstone?
Oh, bittersweet aunt...gave so much...how beautiful.
If this was Sesame Street, it'd be like Bert demanding Ernie's rubber duckie, his bed, and all his food including his last cookie, and then leaving Ernie to die in the gutter without so much as a "Thanks, Ernie."
The book still could have made sense, with all that the tree did, if the rotten boy would have shown some appreciation, or some remorse, but he didn't, so it's a creepy story of abuse, of watching a nice tree get used, abused, killed and forgotten.
This book makes for nice fodder for adults, for chitchat, but it's not a children's book-even though it does have cute drawings, simple words, and is marketed as such.
Why consider it a children's book? Because some adults go online and argue for its poetic tragedy? No, never mind the banter and lobbying of adults-just pay attention to the honest warnings from parents who have found out what I'm telling you now: While some kids may enjoy it, others, that being, the *sensitive* kids, will be hurt by it.
So, what am I saying? Protect your kids from all sad stories? No. Just keep in mind that although the tree made a beautiful sacrifice, the boy never cared, and the boy killed the tree. It's like watching somebody kill a puppy for no reason. I believe the author gave this book a weird ending on purpose, so that people would debate the book itself, and generate more fame and sales for it via curiosity. Sometimes people do that. Trash pop icon Madonna made a career of getting people to speculate on her exploits, rather than her talent. I'm not saying the author of this book has no talent, but insofar as this book is concerned, it's a trick. It's like an across-the-board endorsement of spanking children under all circumstances, in that most children will bounce back from it, but others will be damaged. The majority opinion rules, but that doesn't mean it is necessarily correct.
The two best contrary opinions I've read about it here come from children. One, from a twelve year-old boy: "That tree is an idiot and the boy isn't helping the situation." The other came from a five year-old girl, told to her mother after the girl answered as to why she didn't want to be read the book again: "He cut down the tree."
Exactly! The boy killed the friendly tree, and never showed any remorse or sadness. The book should be called "The Giving Tree and the Heartless Killer."
This book is ugly. I can't imagine Jim Henson or Charles Schulz writing something such as this. Keep in mind that there is deep sadness in Peanuts, but it isn't ugly. If the tree got struck by lightning or mowed down by a bulldozer, that would still be sad, but the fact that the kid doesn't care makes it a tale of abuse. There is no redemption, and the cruelty is spectacular.
Most people (and most of them adults) are only getting the surface. The wiser and more sensitive a child is, the more he or she will be hurt by this book. The majority of the glowing reviews written by adults be damned, this book is a sadistic tragedy, presented as a series of macabre greeting cards.
I can only hope that well-meaning, yet ignorant adults will not force this material on children with the bitter argument that it is either great "art," or a stiff "lesson."
Interesting for adults, but it's not for children, as you CANNOT give it to all children without hurting some of them, and, hurt some of them you will, for this has more in common with Edgar Allan Poe than it does with anything else. A clever career move for the author, but unless you are 100% sure of how a child will react to this, keep it away from them. Adults who think this is "deep" and that they are doing children a favor by bringing them this book are making a mistake.
The sacrifice of the tree is beautiful, but it can't be removed from the other messages, which are: "Don't love; don't trust; give and you will be destroyed; take and you will survive; greed pays back-kindness never does; let others destroy you; kill the one who loves you."
Poison! Discuss it all you like with other adults, but keep it away from children, for it will certainly damage sensitive children.
Poison! Poison! Poison!
Book Review: Many Layers to This Story, Just Like a Tree's Many Rings
Summary: 5 Stars
Stories are one of the oldest and most intense forms of human learning. The Giving Tree has all of the elements of the kind of mythical story that provides sustenance to all who tell and listen to the story throughout their lives. A person aged 93 can enjoy it as much as a 3 year old, yet in a totally different way. The story begins like this:
"Once there was a tree . . .
and she loved a little boy."
At the most obvious level, then this is a story about the joys of love . . . and the pleasures of being loved. The experience is clearest when the boy is youngest.
"And every day the boy would come . . . ."
Whenever the boy came when he was little, that brought the tree happiness.
"And the tree was happy."
The tree shares many resources with the boy, and takes back companionship as her reward. This message is reinforced by the fact that the tree is always happy when the boy (now a man) returns less often) . . . except when he takes the tree's trunk.
As a literal object, the tree obviously also stands for nature's bounty . . . as long as we don't take too much, it will continue to provide for us. But calling the tree "she" also suggests that perhaps the tree stands for a metaphor for a mother or grandmother, either in the family or as Mother Nature.
The story is obviously written from the tree's perspective. All the scenes have the tree in it. So we are to learn from the tree's experiences.
The tree always gives the boy what he wants. But is it always good for the boy? It's hard to tell, but we have a clue that it may not be. The boy who wanted branches for a house to have a wife and family, later just wants a boat to leave. This suggests that something went wrong with his plan. But nature and your family will always take you in, subject to the resources they have remaining.
But what is the message for the little boy? He is happiest when with the tree while small. When older, he wants many things, but they don't seem to provide him with happiness that lasts. Although he gets all the material possessions the tree can give, it helps him less than the tree's companionship.
Clearly, the little boy is hardly a noble character except when pure in his devotion to the tree. If you are like me, you will have a negative reaction to the boy man taking the tree's trunk for a boat. That's just asking too much. But unconditional love provides it, as undefended nature cannot deny humans either.
At another level though, the balance is redressed by the aged man's physical decline.
"I am very tired."
"Sit down and rest."
"And the boy did."
Even as a stump, the tree can help the boy old man. The boy old man can no longer chew apples, nor build houses, nor make boats. They are at one again.
"And the tree was happy."
Perhaps one of the greatest messages of the tree is that there is such a thing as unconditional love. Children are often not sure about their parents in this regard. The parent who reads this story to a daughter or son will have gone a long way toward sending the message that he or she is loved . . . unconditionally.
The book has much to recommend it for beginning readers. Most of the words are short, repeated, and relate closely to the line drawings. Thus, most children can memorize long sequences and begin to decode words to match their memories. Before long, they can begin to recognize the words.
The Shel Silverstein line drawings have a unique charm to them, often cropping the tree and the boy in unusual ways . . . suggesting motion. My only regret is that there is no color used with the stories. I think that color would have deepened the impact, especially for young children.
After you have finished reading and enjoying the story, I suggest that you ask yourself what should be the limits of giving based on love, if any. Also, what is the responsibility of the recipient of unconditional love? Beyond that, what is each person's responsibility to nature?
Look for the circles within the circles.
Book Review: The Giving Tree Makes Even Ms. Spock Cry
Summary: 1 Stars
One of my nicknames is Ms. Spock for my general tendency NOT to be terribly emotional, but just talking about The Giving Tree always makes me burst into tears.
I LOVE Mr. Silverstein's poems for children so much that I've (optimistically) asked my Mom to bring them to the hospital and read them to me between contractions when I'm in labor with my baby. (Note that he also created a much larger body of work of adult-only poems and songs distributed in Playboy magazine and elsewhere.)
HOWEVER, I HATE this story and I absolutely do not agree that it is appropriate for children, although it may be appropriate to help adults in abusive or co-dependent relationships see that all they will get for their sacrifice is NOTHING and that their sacrifice won't even help the other person.
The boy in this story never gives back and never even says "Thank You." He just takes and takes and takes. He never brings the tree water, he never plants another tree, and when all that is left is a sad little stump, he comes back to sit on her.
It reminds me of all the reasons why I grew up wishing that I had not been born female. All the women I knew, even the ones who were VPs of big name companies, were submissive -- endlessly giving to the men and children around them and never being appreciated for their sacrifices.
The book reminds me of all the people who think nature is just there to deplete for profit. It reminds me of the contrasts I've seen between neighborhoods with trees and those without -- the ones without are generally hot, dirty, graffiti-covered places with open air drug markets. Cultures that don't protect their trees are doomed to fail.
If this were a book about the cycle of life, the boy would have planted some of the apples and grown more trees. He would have brought his family to picnic under the tree, rather than taking her limbs to build his house. He would have introduced his children to the joys of playing in the tree, which would have made the tree truly happy too. But that is not what this story is about.
I HATE this book BECAUSE I'm a very giving person, BECAUSE I spend my days working on engineering projects to benefit humanity, and BECAUSE I spend so many of my evenings and weekends cleaning up city parks, supporting groups that teach under-privileged children, and attending endless community group meetings, including fundraiser meetings for the local library.
What is the real message of this book? That you can give your best, that you can give everything that you have to give, and it ultimately achieves nothing? Not even a "thank you"?
That's a terrible thing to be teaching to children!
P.S. Since writing my review on January 27, 2006, I happened to visit a family that has recently moved their Mother from her home to a nursing home. They seem to be in such a terrible hurry to sell her house and divide up her things. They sure didn't seem to think much of the sacrifices she made to raise them -- even an occasional phone call was too much for them! And guess what book was prominent among the ones on their bookshelf? The Giving Tree!
June 2008 Update: Just to clarify my review, I never meant to say that I thought Shel meant to demean women, which is why I chose my words carefully, e.g. "It reminds me of..." and "All the women I knew...."
I do believe in unconditional love between parents and children. However, I don't think there's anything "wrong" with thanking my Mom and Dad and recognizing the sacrifices that they made for me, as I have done from a very early age. I also take my son to see them as often as possible. The special joy of grandparents is awesome! I anticipated that somewhat in my initial review under the ideas for bringing children to play in the tree and picnic beneath it.
Book Review: A beautiful spiritual lesson
Summary: 5 Stars
It seems many well-intentioned readers are sadly missing the point of this beautiful story. Stop being offended or depressed about this story, dear readers. As Dr Wayne Dyer says, That which offends you only weakens you. It is your ego at work, convincing you that the world shouldn't be the way it is. The tree in the story was not abused at all. This view must be a projection from your own experience. (And I'm sorry if that is so). The tree doesn't have to be female either. Don't take it so literally. The tree is just a symbol of a being who has reached ultimate spiritual beauty and grace. Females often have this quality, naturally (but so do many men). You clearly didn't read the words closely enough, or understand their powerful message. The tree was only truly happy when she gave something of herself to the boy. As St. Francis of Assisi teaches us, It is through giving that we receive. We can only be truly happy when we give of ourselves to others, expecting nothing in return. When we let go of our egos, stop wanting to be admired, and think only of other's needs, we attract true love back to us in return. The boy loved the tree, and that was all the tree needed to be happy.
So many readers have focused on the apparently selfish boy, but the lesson here is not given by the boy, it is given by the tree. (Hence the title). It is the tree who we must try to copy in our lives. The boy represents others around us, who we must love and give selflessly to. The boy actually did nothing inherently wrong. If he had rejected the tree's offers, or the tree's love, that would have been much sadder for the tree. However, he took nothing more than what the tree lovingly and willingly offered to him, and by loving the tree in return, he made the tree truly happy.
Yes, the image of the tree giving away her trunk to the boy, and becoming only a stump at the end, is indeed stunning. The first time I read the book, I had tears streaming down my cheeks. Tears of humility and awe. This story is a breath-taking example of abundant love. It shows us that we are not our bodies or our possessions. Our ego tries to cling to these things, but it will never be satisfied. Our ego can never have enough material things and will always be disgruntled and offended, because our bodies and possessions cannot be controlled. Over time they will age, fade and disappear.. However, who we really are is our spirit, which lies deeper than our bodies and possessions, and is infinite. Our spirits are full of beauty, love and abundance, no matter what happens to our bodies or our possessions. The more we give of our selves and our possessions, the richer, more beautiful and more abundant our spirits become. Then, nothing can truly hurt us, not even losing our limbs.
In giving away nearly everything she had, the tree became a thousand times more spiritually beautiful than she was in her younger days. And only then, as the story says at the end, the tree was happy. Only then did the tree reach true lasting peace and happiness.
It is a lesson for us all, and I'm thrilled to hear that this book is being taught in schools. I have now bought the book for my 2 young children, and intend to teach it to them, so that they may learn how to be selfless, loving and giving, so that their spirits may grow so beautiful and abundant that they will have lasting happiness, no matter what happens in their lives.
Book Review: Sweet, sad story of unconditional love
Summary: 5 Stars
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