SUMMARY

“Once there was a tree… and she loved a little boy.” Throughout the various stages of the boy’s life, the tree gives of herself so the boy can be happy. As the boy takes, he grows up and moves away from the tree. Although the tree is saddened and depleted, she gives to the boy as a tree stump when he returns as an old man because that is all she has to give.



MY THOUGHTS

I had crossed The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein throughout my life. I remember friends reading it during my childhood, my college roommate gifting this book to every child she babysat, and finally, my step-sons loving it today because their mother reads it to them. As the supportive step-parent I try to be, I bought it for dad’s house as well, so they could also read it here. Moreover, as a family, we love Where the Sidewalk Ends, Falling Up and A Light in the Attic. Hence, The Giving Tree seemed like a natural addition to our library.

One day, I found myself reading it for my youngest step-son (I am blessed with the three greatest little guys ever!). He was the expert, I was the novice. We read to one another and talked about the great drawings (simple black lines that carry the emotion any heart may feel), thoroughly enjoying the content… Until the end.

First, I thought this story must be an allegory of Mother Nature and mankind. Absolutely, we deplete this planet of all its goods, and we never stop to say thank you, honor it, or really acknowledge the damage we have done. Thinking about when the book was first written (mid 60s), I assumed this would be a logical explanation, possibly a bit too sophisticated for a beginner reader, but thought-provoking for the parent reading it.

Reading it another time, always with my youngest step-son, I thought how one could interpret this story as one of motherhood (or, more broadly, parenthood). Parenting is a selfless act, sometimes even thankless. Still, would we allow our children to act like that? And would we really keep on giving every time our children asked us for something? Noooo, that isn’t what giving is about. Giving is also setting limits; if not, as parents, we would become tree stumps (or doormats!). Is it a good idea to present selflessness and unconditional love with an example like this one? And is “the boy” really who these little readers should be looking at as an example (good or bad as it may be)? I think this book is somewhat guilt-provoking in children, in our case absolutely unnecessarily… But say we had a household of thankless and selfish children, are they really the ones to blame?

In history and in religions, there are numerous examples of selflessness, unconditional love, and of sacrifice that are much more constructive than The Giving Tree. Fortunately, these stories have all been written for children, so we have other examples to give that aren’t so self depleting.*

Ultimately, Silverstein is an author who promotes unique, strong, creative INDIVIDUALS. He might be “too dark” or “too anti-conformist” in some of his other works, but will I rule him out of our house because of that? Absolutely not. What I will rule out is The Giving Tree. Perhaps, one day we will reintroduce it, when the children are older and have a more developed ability for critical thinking, and we can talk about the environment and our affect on it. For now, The Giving Tree is going to make one more sacrifice, and make room for another book and another message.

* The other books I was referring to are both the Step into Reading books as well as the Childhood of Famous Americans Series to name just a few of the boys’ favorites.


Recommended: No