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Product Description
Product Description
Once there was a little 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 text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.From the Author
Forever with me
This book was given to me by my Aunt Barbara who, without a doubt has never given me anything worth while until this gift. When I was younger I read this book and cried - now i am 23 years old and every time I read it, I cry- this book is the most amazing book ever written in my opinion - but don't take my word for it read it yourself. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
This book was given to me by my Aunt Barbara who, without a doubt has never given me anything worth while until this gift. When I was younger I read this book and cried - now i am 23 years old and every time I read it, I cry- this book is the most amazing book ever written in my opinion - but don't take my word for it read it yourself. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Once there was a tree ... and she loved a little boy. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Once there was a tree ... and she loved a little boy. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
81 of 81 people found the following review helpful
Format:Library Binding
2 days ago, on the recommendation of someone whose judgment i respect and whose favourite book this is, i started to read The Giving Tree. "Once there was a tree...and she loved a little boy". A few minutes later i was wiping away a tear, and reeling from an unexpected welter of feelings. It is profound, wise, beautiful and moving. It's simple but its heart and its scope are enormous. In barely 600 words and a couple of dozen illustrations, with a quiet serenity that puts to shame much of the "great" and famous literature, it suggests the important things in life and a whole range of themes- parenting, childhood, joy, time, aging, absence, self-sacrifice, selfishness, loss, consolation, materialism, nature's gifts and, above all, unconditional love. Some have said it's too sad for children and too simple for grown ups. For this 42 year old it's the loveliest discovery, and quite perfect.
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I read the same symposium that someone else mentioned hereIt set me to thinking about this book (which I still love) in ways I hadn't before. If you look at this story as the boy's story and not the tree's, it's possible to see it as a cautionary tale. Remember, the Tree keeps saying, "Take this or that, and then you will be happy." But after chidhood, does the boy ever seem happy? Even after he's attained the wife and family he's looked for, he wants to build a boat to sail away, being "too old and sad to play". (Although, in all fairness, maybe tragedy took his spouse from him.) At the end, he looks dejected and worn. Could Shel have been issuing a warning that anyone who does nothing but take will never be truly content? Perhaps if the boy had learned to give in return, he would have had a more contented life.Although I do see the boy as finally learning his lesson toward the end. When he returns to the stump at the end, he has to know that the tree has nothing left to give. But he is finally ready to give the tree the only thing she ever asked of him...companionship. I kinda see in the old man's face a realization of what he's done and a repentance.There's another metaphor for this as well...the metaphor of parent to child. How many children never see or appreciate the sacrifices their parents have made for them till it is too late, or almost too late? This could have been another warning Shel was issuing. END
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Whichever way you look at this book you have to agree, that for such a short piece, it is reaching you in places you never thought it would or could. I'm reading the reviews and I agree with them all, the bad and the good. My little girl doesn't fully understand it yet I think but I read it for one of her friends tonight and she did. I was introduced to Silverstein by my American brother-in-law and while some of it isn't easily translated by my daughter, most of it is. And she reads in wonderment now!!! I don't want to explain too much of what I think the Giving Tree is about, I'd rather she came to her own conclusions but she loves the story just as it is, a story. And she loves me reading it to her friends who come to visit. This has become a staple in this house...long may it last! And for those of you worried about giving this to your children after reading some of the reviews: let them make their own mind's up! You'll be surprised at the depth of your children.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Hell on the farm
Charming, and even though the ending is somewhat sad I can't wait to read this to my grand children when they are The Giving Treea little older
Published 1 month ago by Heli
Touching book
Simply love this book! A touching story with a beautiful underlying message for all ages. I read it to my 6 month old baby - on some level I believe a caring and loving foundation... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Leslie Maliepaard
Exactly the Point....
I must respectfully disagree with those who have said this book is NOT for children. I have taught for nearly a decade, to both young and older children and I have found this... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Aprichelle
Moving story about love
This is a book aimed at children but it does not have a syrupy ending at all. It's about love and loss and is very moving.
Published 6 months ago by Mrs. June M. Kurtz
So touching
I read this book standing up in the bookshop. I don't have children and it was to be a gift for a friends son. It is about giving, and giving too much. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Berenice Hickey
I love this book can be read on so many levels,
I love this book its quite deep and can be read on so many levels, Is it a metaphor for a mother's love? Or that nature will always give until there is nothing left. Read more
Published 17 months ago by betty buletone
Favourite book of all time
I highly recommend this book to readers of all ages. It is beautifully written and illustrated, as well as being stuffed full of sentiment and life lessons. Read more
Published 18 months ago by LSchein
Stunning!
A beautiful, moving, stunning book with a powerful message (or two!). I was given it as a present for my firstborn and have since bought it for my best friend's firstborn - you... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Kajazy
Wrong message
This book actually shocked and disturbed me. It is not a story about love and giving at all but about greed, selfishness and indifference. Read more
Published on 12 May 2010 by Ms. B. Gunnewicht
Love your parents. Open your eyes to a common universal 'error'.
This completely moved me to tears and made me feel ashamed of some of my past behaviour. One interpretation of the tale's relationship between the boy & tree is that's how many of... Read more
Published on 2 Feb 2010 by Nick R
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