Book Review – The Giving Tree by Shel Siverstein

 

 

The Giving Tree (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

 

Title: The Giving Tree

 

Author: Shel Silverstein

 

Published: Oct 7th 1964 by Harper Collins

 

ISBN: 9780060256654

 

 

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

 

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.

 

 

 

My Review:

 

This is an excellent children’s book, (a child could even take time colouring the lovely line drawings.)
It covers the story of a tree and how much it gives to help keep a boy happy from childhood to old age.
The tree is selfless and gives until there is only a stump left but still it has gifts left to give.
The boy is carefree but as he ages he becomes more interested in material things and takes all that the tree offers without a second glance back, how sad that humans can genuinely be this callous.
Are you are giver – like the tree.
Or are you are taker – like the man that the boy becomes.
There are lessons to be learned from this story.

 

 

 

This book definitely gets a five star rating from me.

 

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~ by adelesymonds on November 11, 2012.