Introduction: The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, Book Review
When was the last time you read a children’s book? For me it was a couple of weeks ago, when I read the sequel to Harriet the Spy. I was disappointed because I thought I had bought Harriet the Spy. It's not a great feeling to read the sequel first because you will not understand certain references.
Because I have had such a rough month, I decided that I would get caught up on some of the books I should have read as a child. Although I have read all my life, there are many children’s books that I didn’t have access to because they were not readily available to me. I am kicking off the series of blog posts, Getting in Touch with the Child in You, with The Giving Tree
by Shel Silverstein. And I will follow-up with some books by Dr Seuss – Green Eggs and Ham
, The Cat in the Hat
, and Oh, The Places You'll Go!
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein: Getting in Touch with the Child in You
You can read the beautifully illustrated, The Giving Tree, in less than 30 minutes, and it will enhance your life because of its simple lesson – self-sacrifice. Shel Silverstein’s book is about the relationship between an apple tree and a boy. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein is whimsical because we know that trees cannot talk, but we love the idea of man verbally interacting with nature and receiving a verbal response in return.
The story takes place over decades, from boy to manhood to the older years – the seasons of life. When the boy is a lad, he loves the tree and the tree loves him in return. He uses the leaves to make a crown and he acts as if he is king of his domain, climbs the tree, eats the apples, and sleeps under it. As he gets older, he forgets about childish things, and no longer plays with the tree, yet the tree loves him unconditionally.
The boy's needs changes, and one day, he tells the tree that he needs money, and the tree tells him to pick the apples and sell them, which he does. Later, as the boy's needs changes again, as he ages, he thinks about finding a wife and starting a family, the apple tree tells him to cut the branches to build a house.
Have you read?
Planting to Reap Full Rewards: A Book Review of The Seasons of Life by Jim Rohn
As the boy grows older, he is sad, perhaps his life didn’t turn out quite the way he would have liked. He wants to sail away, so the tree allows him to cut his trunk to build a boat. When the boy becomes an old man, who is weary, all he wants to do is rest his tired body, and the tree allows him to rest on the stump. As you read the story, it’s a one-sided relationship, where one party does all the giving, and the other accepts without giving back anything in return. The tree is selfless and the boy becomes selfish as he grows older, only thinking about what he can get from his friend.
The story is a metaphor for life, the things we do for love, and it shows that the more that you have, the more you want, and that possessions do not equate to happiness. Happiness comes from within.
Needs change at each stage of life, but instead of working to take care of those needs, the boy takes everything that the tree offers, without stopping to think how his actions will impact his lifelong friend, the tree. It is about man abusing nature, and not thinking about the implications for future generations. Did the boy live an unfulfilled life because he didn’t give to the relationship with the apple tree as he grew older? I recommend that you read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.
Books by Shel Silverstein
