The Giving Tree (Slipcased Mini Edition)

The Giving Tree (Slipcased Mini Edition)
by Shel Silverstein

The Giving Tree (Slipcased Mini Edition)
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Book Summary Information

Author: Shel Silverstein
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1999-10
ISBN: 006028451X
Number of pages: 64
Publisher: HarperCollins
Product features:
  • ISBN13: 9780060284510
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Book Reviews of The Giving Tree (Slipcased Mini Edition)

Book Review: The Giving Tree (school age)
Summary: 5 Stars

The characters in this book are a boy and a tree. Throughout the story the boy ages, but is always referred to as "the boy". The story is about a relationship between a tree and a boy. The boy enjoys the time he spends with the tree, eating her apples, climbing her trunk or sleeping in her shade. This makes the tree happy. As the boy gets older he becomes more demanding of the tree, wanting things like money and a house. The tree loves the boy and his happy to help him however she can. This is a story about love and self-sacrifice. It can teach a valuable lesson about how we treat the ones we love and how being greedy and demanding can hurt others. The illustrations are extremely simple black and white drawings with little detail of the background. The simplicity of them works well as it develops the characters and follows the story yet allows for the focus to stay with the story itself. The language is simple and leaves the story open for interpretation.

This is a great book; it carries with it a valuable lesson about life and relationships. Children may not be touched or influenced in the way adults are, but the exposure to the story introduces a new concept that can be carried through and reflected upon as they get older and further in their development.

Discussions can go in many directions with this book. Children may simply want to talk about things like climbing trees or picking apples. Children may love this story as just that, a story about a boy and a tree. Some may catch on to the meaning of the story and share their interpretation with the group. Open-ended questions can be used to encourage discussion about the story and it's meaning, ensuring that the positive messages are taken from the story. Asking things like "How do you think the tree felt when the boy was gone?" "Why do you think the tree didn't ask the boy to give her anything?" "Do you think the boy loved the tree?" Children may amaze you with their responses. Discussions and sharing are great extensions of the book. Children can use the information gained from the book and incorporate it into their social interactions, dramatic play, and personal relationships. These discussions can help plant one of many seeds towards the development of social skills and morality.

This book introduces a valuable lesson to children; however the author leaves it open to interpretation and does not force his personal meaning on the reader. Some read the book and see that it is about greed and selfishness, promoting the idea that taking advantage of someone you love is ok. I have heard it dubbed "The Taking Boy". It seems to be a controversial book that people either love or hate. I think, however, that if the educator/reader knows the children and extends the book with appropriate questions and discussions that the children will be exposed a deeper meaning, which can be carried on into future development. Some of us are the tree, some of us are the boy, some of us have been both, but most have been something in between, we can decide which one we want to be.

Summary of The Giving Tree (Slipcased Mini Edition)

"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.

This miniature full-cloth, gold-stamped edition will be treasured by all ages.


To say that this particular apple tree is a "giving tree" is an understatement. In Shel Silverstein's popular tale of few words and simple line drawings, a tree starts out as a leafy playground, shade provider, and apple bearer for a rambunctious little boy. Making the boy happy makes the tree happy, but with time it becomes more challenging for the generous tree to meet his needs. When he asks for money, she suggests that he sell her apples. When he asks for a house, she offers her branches for lumber. When the boy is old, too old and sad to play in the tree, he asks the tree for a boat. She suggests that he cut her down to a stump so he can craft a boat out of her trunk. He unthinkingly does it. At this point in the story, the double-page spread shows a pathetic solitary stump, poignantly cut down to the heart the boy once carved into the tree as a child that said "M.E. + T." "And then the tree was happy... but not really." When there's nothing left of her, the boy returns again as an old man, needing a quiet place to sit and rest. The stump offers up her services, and he sits on it. "And the tree was happy." While the message of this book is unclear (Take and take and take? Give and give and give? Complete self-sacrifice is good? Complete self-sacrifice is infinitely sad?), Silverstein has perhaps deliberately left the book open to interpretation. (All ages) --Karin Snelson

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