The Giving Tree

Silverstein, Shel. The Giving Tree. Illustrated by Shel Silverstein. Harper & Row, 1964. 64 pages.

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein is a picture book about a young boy’s relationship with a tree that looks after him and gives him anything he needs to be happy. The story begins with a little boy who would play outside with the tree. He would visit the tree quite frequently and loved it very much. Eventually, the boy grew older and saw the tree less often. The tree was alone for most of the time so when the boy came to visit, the tree wanted to make the boy as happy as she could. The boy became materialistic as he grew up so he asked the tree for things like money and a house. The tree responded by giving him everything she could including her leaves, apples, branches, trunk, and even her stump. The tree eventually tells the boy that she has nothing left to give him, but the boy claims he just needs somewhere to rest. The story closes with the boy, who is now an old man, sitting on what is left of the tree while the tree finally becomes happy again.

“‘Come, Boy, sit down. Sit down and rest.’ And the boy did.
 And the tree was happy.”

The illustrations in this book are black and white. They provide simplistic visions of the story and do not distract the children from the main plot. This story is intended for older children with longer attention spans who will enjoy the illustrations without losing focus of the story. These drawings show the physical sacrifices the tree gives up for the boy, which further emphasizes the author’s point.

This picture book is heavily philosophical for a number of reasons. The main underlying tone that can be found is the relationship of the tree and the boy representing the relationship of a mother and her child. Just as the tree gives everything she has and asks for nothing in return, a mother does so as well with her child. This story can be used to discuss that relationship with children and talk about how important it is. Questions such as what other people or things could fill in the role of the tree could allow for a transition into a discussion on God or other types of characters.