Rating: 
Summary: or taking boy?
Review: recently to my pleasant surprise I found a copy of The Giving Tree for a quarter at the local library book sale. I brought it home & showed my wife and she said: "I can't believe you got that book, it's so sad". I'll admit I may have scoffed a little. Then I read it and darn near found my eyes growing moist. I just felt so sorry for the tree that I wanted to pistol whip that selfish, acquisitive kid/man. Which brings us to the question: Is it possible that this slender children's book is one of the most insightful comments ever written on the "Me" generation?This may strike you as absurd, but take a look at the First Things Symopsium about the book which can be found online. For my own part, I read the book as a tragedy, and despite my initial reaction, the boy/man strikes me as the tragic figure. He is completely consumed by selfish concerns and what he can get from the tree. The story could equally well be called The Taking Boy. And in the twilight of his life, what does he have left after taking and taking and taking? Nothing. In fact, he has to return to the tree and ask for more. The final scene seems less of a "reconciliation" than one more desperate act of selfish consumption on his part. It reminded me of Citizen Kane, with Charles Foster Kane looking back at his life from his death bed and realizing how unfulfilled he is. Silverstein was just a tad older than the Baby Boomers, but his status as a pop icon rested on their enthusiasm. So it's ironic that they made him a best-selling author by blindly reading this truly devastating critique of their cohort and their lifestyle to their kids. Ironic, but delicious. GRADE: Giving Tree: A+
Rating:
Summary: It's more fortunate to give than to take.
Review: Having read the book a few times, I let my 7-year old son read it. His first response, upon completion, is "the boy is selfish", a fair and natural comment from a child of his age. During the subsequent discussion with him, it is not my goal to change his view towards the boy, but to add to him different perspectives of the story, perhaps the title of the book to start with. It is "The Giving Tree", not "The Selfish Boy",not"The Taking Boy".... In the traditional Chinese belief, there is the saying "It's more fortunate to give than to take". It is normally the rich gives the poor; the physically competent helps the physically handicapped. It is, however,difficult today in our part of the world (I believe, so do most developed and developing cities) to bring our children to appreciate the intrinsic value behind this belief. Taking is a pleasure apparently to most children. What about giving? Do our children have enough giving exposure before or after one or many taking experience? Unfortunately, my son doesn't, even though he did comment the boy selfish. To highlight,in the book, the tree was happy everytime the boy came to it. To be able to offer something unconditionally to the boy everytime is a pleasure. The tree wanted the boy to come back and wanted to give more. There is nothing wrong with the tree, but neither with the boy to be offered and to take. It is just that the boy, or the author did not write intentionally, that the boy has never expressed any gratitude to the tree or to offer something in return. Does it matter so long as the tree was happy, happy to give? I read a review from a California's reader and quite understand where he/she comes from when he/she said a book on "love without conditions" is not one he/she would give any child. This is the concern of most parents/teachers. The value of this book to young readers will only exist if we parents/teachers bring our children to different perspectives under our support in reviewing the philosophy of "The Giving Tree". I enjoy reading the book and, having talked with my son, I become confident of recommending this book to those who want children learn the beauty of giving.
Rating:
Summary: All I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.
Review: THE GIVING TREE has become a piece of classic modern children's literature. It is the story of a tree who gives everything she has to a little boy. At first the boy loves in return, but then he begins to take and take and give nothing in return, until finally after many years the tree is nothing more than a battered stump. The boy eventually returns to the tree and though he never acknowledges any selfish behavior the tree offers him what little she has left and the relationship between the two is restored. I get teared up almost every time I read this story. To me, it seems to be a wonderful allegory about the nature of God's love and his relationship to humankind. God gives and gives and gives and we take and take and take, yet He loves us still, even though we are plotting our doom and will one day be brought low and destroyed for our transgressions. However, I also realize that there are several other ways of reading this books, too (there's the whole environmental take). Whatever way you read it, I find it amazing that the pot smoking Silverstein, who was known for using racy language, was also one of the foremost children's authors of the modern era and was able to write such a moving work. Knowing that, the effect of the story's moral is augmented. Anyway. Some might think that the moral lesson in the giving tree isn't right for young children to know. I disagree. Life's not always fair and though there are many children who see the selfishness of the little boy, many fail to see the selfishness in themselves and therefore miss out on the book's main point. A wonderful, powerful, and moving children's story.
Rating:
Summary: or taking boy?
Review: recently to my pleasant surprise I found a copy of The Giving Tree for a quarter at the local library book sale. I brought it home & showed my wife and she said: "I can't believe you got that book, it's so sad". I'll admit I may have scoffed a little. Then I read it and darn near found my eyes growing moist. I just felt so sorry for the tree that I wanted to pistol whip that selfish, acquisitive kid/man. Which brings us to the question: Is it possible that this slender children's book is one of the most insightful comments ever written on the "Me" generation? This may strike you as absurd, but take a look at the First Things Symopsium about the book which can be found online. For my own part, I read the book as a tragedy, and despite my initial reaction, the boy/man strikes me as the tragic figure. He is completely consumed by selfish concerns and what he can get from the tree. The story could equally well be called The Taking Boy. And in the twilight of his life, what does he have left after taking and taking and taking? Nothing. In fact, he has to return to the tree and ask for more. The final scene seems less of a "reconciliation" than one more desperate act of selfish consumption on his part. It reminded me of Citizen Kane, with Charles Foster Kane looking back at his life from his death bed and realizing how unfulfilled he is. Silverstein was just a tad older than the Baby Boomers, but his status as a pop icon rested on their enthusiasm. So it's ironic that they made him a best-selling author by blindly reading this truly devastating critique of their cohort and their lifestyle to their kids. Ironic, but delicious. GRADE: Giving Tree: A+
Rating:
Summary: a thought-provoking, awe-inspiring message for all readers.
Review: Shel Silverstein has a powerful message to deliver-and he does. Long after I finished it, the message remained in my head and heart. Actually, there are two lessons here. The first one, which I call the children's lesson, teaches about our selfishness, and how we sometimes forget to appreciate our gifts. The second, more "adult" lesson, could be translated as mankind's abuse of our natural resources, and the desire to always take the Earth's treasures, with little regard for the consequences. However, I must respectfully disagree with an earlier review, in which the reviewer could find no redeeming quality in this story. Depressing?Yes, to the knowledgeable adult mind. Pessimistic? Perhaps, again to the adult mind. However, even small children, who view it simply as a story, with no lesson or intention, can see that the boy in the book is selfish, and the tree is a great friend. As a mother of 2, I wish everything I read to my children was bright and sunny and had a happy ending. Those stories exist. They are called fairy tales. If my children are to learn to live in this strange world of ours, they need to learn from an early age about "real life." I am flad there are books like this one, which tell it like it is in a gentle way, leaving the (mature) reader with a faint glimmer of hope for our future.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Story
Review: A great and yet simple story of a young boy, a "giving" tree and unconditional love. But me thinks this tale was meant more for the parents reading it than the kids since I have a feeling the moral goes over their blessed little self-absorbed heads. Be prepared to tear up the first couple of times you read it and whatever you do - DON'T read it when you're pregnant unless you have plenty of Kleenex on hand.
Rating: 
Summary: Hmmm.......I liked it as a child...
Review: Most of these reviews are alittle too in depth for me...Looking at it from a child's point of view (since it is meant for kids right?) , I was read this book many times thru my young years and liked it....I remember feeling sad for the tree but at the same time happy cuz "the tree was happy"....then hearing the page where it said "But not really" and thinking "I THOUGHT so !! Who could be happy all chopped off?!"....As a child, The last page was sad and poginant but also had a touch of Happiness in that the tree and the boy were finally again together and happy (no matter their relationship - kids don't look so into things like we do). At 5 or 8 years, you don't really connect things with relationships, the environment or anything like that - It is a story about the joy of giving...Yeah the kid is a brat and I didn't like him but I remember centering my thoughts on the tree.... As an adult, a multitude of issues come to mind and symbolism etc....I also wonder why the tree is female....etc etc yada yada......But as a child, it is just a story.....a story that for very young minds has one meaning and for older minds has another....Perhaps Shel meant it to be this way....
Rating:
Summary: Great Book as Child or Adult
Review: I'm a bit confused by one of the reviews on this book. I don't believe that a book as simple as this has undertones to suppress women or condone the mistreatment of other. Instead the book shows a glimpse of what some real relationships can and sometimes are like, specifically that of parent and child. The tree shows great similarities to the emotions showed by parents to their children. A key message in this book is a parents love and desire to "GIVE" regardless of the reciprocation. All and all when it comes down to it, this is a true classic book for both child and adult. It may even bring them better together by understanding there own relationship.
Rating:
Summary: This is a great lesson in life!
Review: The Giving Tree is a meaningful children's story about giving, caring, and love. In this story a tree gives everything she has to a boy out of love for him. He continues to take from the tree until nothing is left but a stump. The boy in this book is selfish, but the tree still loves him. This book teaches us that when we give of ourselves to others, we can truly be happy. It is always better to give than to receive. This is a wonderful story for all ages. Reading this to your child is a great way to teach them a valuable lesson about giving. I LOVED this book!
Rating:
Summary: Five stars from 3 generations of readers
Review: My mother got this book for me in the 70's, and I recently picked it up for my own son. It's a simple, powerful book that should be on every family's bookshelf. The book mostly plays out the them of self-sacrifice for the betterment of those we love, and it does so in an engaging way. It's easy to get upset with the boy's selfishness, but is the way he treats the tree really so different from the way we treat our own parents? A touching story, and one I hope to read to my grandchildren some day.
| 
