The Giving Tree
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The Giving Tree

4.36 of 5 stars 4.36  ·  rating details  ·  212,345 ratings  ·  7,421 reviews

"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

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Hardcover
Published March 30th 2004 by HarperCollins (first published January 1st 1964)
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Nathan
Nathan rated it 1 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: Psychologists?
Shelves: young-folks
I know that many people have a sentimental love for this book, and I respect that -- you can't rationalize emotional connection. And generally, I like this author. But with this book, since it inspired no real emotional response in me, I am left with only the rational perspective, which in me was this:

This book troubles me deeply, because it enshrines self-destructive and self-pitying martyrdom as the paragon of love for others. And I think there is already far too much of this i...more
Bird Brian
T



This book is a piece of stinking propaganda feces glorifying the perverse role of the "adoring slave"- a role being foisted on the middle class by Elites, who expect us to grovel and thank them for keeping the wheels turning on this putrifying and grossly unjust system, as we bail out their "too big to fail" banks, brokerage houses and insurance firms. Taxpayers play the role of the Tree, as Goldman Sachs and AIG executives- playing the Boy- award the...more
Mer
Mer rated it 5 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: enviornmentalists, nurturers, parents and children who want to discuss empathy and reciprocity
Scrolling down, it seems several reviewers resent this book's apparently heavy-handed message about selfishness/selflessness. I can totally understand why they find it upsetting or sappy. Overbearing, even. But I don't agree.

Some fascinating theories have been put forth about The Giving Tree. It's deceptively simple on its surface, yes. But if this were truly just some hard and fast hippie dippy morality tale, would its two main characters (living natural tree, growing human boy) and...more
Skylar Burris
I was drawn to this book again and again as a child, and I discovered that my three-year-old daughter also wanted me to read it to her repeatedly. The book has given rise to numerous interpretations, and I myself have viewed it differently over time. Some people have a negative, visceral reaction to the book because they believe they are required to see it as a positive and uplifting tale of giving, something they cannot manage to do.

These days, we are accustomed to sanitized, upbea...more
Gavin
So it is Christmas time, and my wife likes to have all of us—my wife and I, and our three years old twins—do a different event each night during Advent as a family. I like this practice; it is little things like this that keep our family strong. Tonight’s event was reading Christmas themed books.

We decided to read THE GIVING TREE as well as three other Christmas books. Had I foreseen what was about to transpire I would have omitted THE GIVING TREE from my selection.

All...more
Jeremy
The book is impossible to wrap my mind around. Part of me wishes it ended thusly: the tree suggests the boy chop her down to make a boat, he takes her advice, and the tree falls on him, killing them both. The moral being a quote I've heard attributed to Bill Cosby: If you spend your whole life trying to make other people happy, YOU'LL never be happy. The boy is punished for all but raping the one who cares more for him than anyone in the world, and the tree pays the ultimate price for a lifet...more
K.D.
Not sure what's the fuss about my friends either really liking or really hating this book. I find this just good. Good message. Good illustration. Good easy read. Nothing spectacular to go crazy about. Nothing sad to really cry a bucket of tears.

The Giving Tree is a poignant story of friendship between the selfless apple tree and a boy. They used to enjoy each others' company when the boy was still little but when he grew up, his priorities changed and he had other needs. The tree tr...more
Laura
Laura rated it 1 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: not terribly bright hippies
Shelves: children
Easily the most vile children's book ever written, for reasons eloquently stated by about a zillion other posters here. I remember my grandmother, whom I disliked (yeah, some kids don't like their grandparents, it's true) used to push this book on me as terribly DEEP and BEAUTIFUL and something I should really THINK ABOUT. And you wonder why I didn't like my grandmother? (My mother thought it was a piece of shit, too.) Anyway, it's a vomitous book, always has been, and I'm glad there are other p...more
David
Sorry, Mr Silverstein. This kind of tripe is inexcusable. And exposing children to it? I'm no child psychologist, but what would be the point? I'd hazard a guess that Bernie Madoff read this book, and look how he turned out. In fact there's a whole generation of bwankers who took it as their bible. Thanks a bunch, Shelly boy.

My real reaction to this piece of morally ambiguous reprehensible mawkishness is best expressed by the kind of interpretative dance that was Molly Shannon's fort...more
Sava Hecht
Co-dependent tree needs to set some fucking boundaries.
Merrin
Merrin rated it 5 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: anyone
Reading the other reviews on this book, I'm really surprised that there's such a level of hatred for this book. But then I thought everyone else in the world loved my fourth grade teacher too. We have to grow up sometime.

I can't imagine not loving this book. I can imagine berating the attitude of the boy, of the tree, but I can't imagine not coming away from this book with a deeper understanding of human nature, of reciprocity, of a parent's love for a child and the nature of servan...more
Morgan
Horrific relationship between a selfish unappreciative child and an enabling self sacrificing mother who has no purpose in life other than to give herself away. I keep expecting a missing page to show up where he pisses all over the tree stump at the end.

I think this is offensive and despicable.

It is a horrible lesson for children. I'd rather see more literature that honors and respects the sacrifices that parents make, rather than this book's actual focus: demonstratin...more
Carol
My 5-year-old daughter had this read to her in preschool and burst into uncontrollable sobs at the end. "It's not fair! The tree is DEAD and the little boy was so mean to it!"

Exactly, honey. This book reeks of the patriarchy. Keep it away from your kids--especially your daughters.
Siobhan
I don't think I have ever read a book that has pissed me off more then the giving tree.

I read this book when I was 6 maybe 7 and I have yet to forgive that little punk of a kid on the cover in his oh so innocent red overalls! I can still vividly remember my outrage upon first reading this book over how the kid just kept taking and taking from the poor, kind, senseless tree. That little money grubbing, self involved, brat, took everything until all that was left of his dear friend...more
Rebecca Grace
Rebecca Grace rated it 2 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: NOT children!
Recommended to Rebecca Grace by: My mother
Shelves: children-s-books
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Jan Bednarczuk
Jan Bednarczuk rated it 1 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: nobody
Shelves: childrens
I can't stand this book. Someone gave it to my children as a gift, and I'm very close to hiding it or giving it away so that I don't have to read it to them at bedtime anymore. The selfish, uncaring boy who takes and takes and takes from the tree until the tree literally has nothing more to give, just makes me want to reach through the pages and throttle him. What's the message here? Is it "When someone loves you, it's okay to just take advantage of them endlessly because they will alwa...more
Amy
Amy rated it 1 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: People who want to raise rotten spoiled brats and their children.
Recommended to Amy by: Everyone on earth.
This is my worst favorite children's book EVER. I normally love Shel Silverstein.

However, this boy is just a complete and utter brat, and uses up everything the tree has to give, and the tree is completely codependent.

The tree should have rained apples on this boy's head and spanked him with her branches until he learned some respect.

This is a story of a very bad boy.
Jon
My wife and I had a debate about this book:

VONNIE: I’m not sure at what age a person discovers the joy of giving. Maybe, for me, it was that first Christmas when I had saved up enough of my allowance to actually buy something for my parents. I remember the anticipation of watching them unwrap the gift and then the big smiles that spread across their faces as they said “Vonnie, you shouldn’t have.” I think The Giving Tree is really a story about parenthood, and the lengths to which mo...more
Erica
it's not so much that i hate this story, i'm not aware of what shel silverstein's intentions were when writing it, but i find it disgusting that people think this is a story of love and relationships and selflessness. the boy takes and takes and takes from the tree until he can take no more, and then when he can literally take no more from the tree, he sits on her like a chair. it's ridiculous that people think this story is beautiful! please! read more books!
Kira
Kira rated it 2 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: Giving trees
Recommended to Kira by: A giving tree
I'm baffled by The Giving Tree. Completely baffled.

When people talk about it, they never tell you just how twisted it really is. There's this vague whiff of patriarchy surrounding it, as well as the running theme of "parents aren't really people. Use them whenever you feel like it. They haven't got anything better to do than serve your whims and desires anyway".

I get it, I do. When you have small children, they depend on you for pretty much everything, and you h...more
Meredith
I have always loved this book, so I was surprised at how many reviewers hated it. As a child I wondered how the tree could give so much. Now that I am older, I know that parents/caregivers do give that much to their children/charges (if metaphorically). So are all parents saps? Certainly they do not literally give house and home, but the sacrifices we make for the ones we love have no quantifiable limit. This book isn't supposed to teach children the value of sharing so much as it shows that som...more
Shannon Moore
Shannon Moore rated it 2 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: christian martyrs
We read this book in Sunday School. This is the kind of book that everyone thinks is just great to read to children because it teaches unselfish giving. I think this book is dangerous because it teaches people that giving to others should drain them until they have nothing left to offer but a tired stump. Let me just file a formal protest about this type of giving. Whether you are a tree or a person, sacrificing yourself to others that are selfish does not make you good. It makes you misera...more
Greg
Greg rated it 1 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: trees
There's this kid and he's a total asshole and he keeps taking stuff from this clueless tree. The tree's all, "i giev u applez yes?" and the kid's all, "You betta or I smack u!"

And then like after 100 years when the kid's all old and has Alzheimer's and he's more or less killed the damn tree because he's taken everything from it, he's got the nerve to desecrate the tree's sacred burial ground by sitting his ass down on it.

I don't know. If I had to cho...more
Alice Shechter
I always thought this book was a little creepy--a little too much giving, not enough on the boundaries side.
Benjermin
Benjermin rated it 5 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: all human beings
Yes, the boy is a selfish bastard, who doesn't deserve the love and generosity he gets time and again. Anyone who read this book as a child is well aware of this fact.

Nonetheless, I'm shocked to see how many disliked it. My only thought is that many readers allow their hatred for the boy to be confused with hatred for the book. Does the book condone the boy's behavior, or simply seek to tell a narrative? Does the quality of a book suffer when the moral quality of its characters flags...more
Krystal
Since I alluded to this book during another review, I thought it fitting I actually review this one =)
This is such a beautiful story about friendship and selflessness, about love and acceptance. So many wonderful themes that I try and teach my children wrapped up into book form. I have cried over the book since my parents read this to me when I was little, so I can't blaim the tears on skewed hormones from birthin' my babies. My daughter likes to ask me occasionally to read the green ...more
Chris
Is Silverstein, so of course the art is both charming and tragic, perfectly fitting for the little fable he presents.

That said, I have hated this story since the first time I read it as a young child. I love Shel, I hate the self-centered jerk of a kid and the pathetic, self-sacrificing tree. Unlike other people who have commented, I don't feel sorry for the tree, as it is never willing to stand up for itself and is always willing to just give and give and give without a single, so...more
Sarah Emily
Sarah Emily rated it 1 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: most certainly not children
this book has made me angry for as long as I can remember, although it took me years to realize what it was that I was angry about. I'm not really sure how this book was ever heralded as a story of love and beauty.

I do, however, find this Amazon review of The Giving Tree to be a thing of love and beauty:

"My name is Noah and I celebrate the Jew holiday called Tubishvat. Tubishvat is all about trees and this book respects tress so I respect it. Trees kick booty. All...more
Franny Burd
I know I'm in the vast minority here, but I've always hated this book, and can't seem to understand its attraction. I find this book disturbing - one giving and giving while another takes and takes with no gratitude or thought to the giver until it's too late. As one of my closest friends put it, "I'm surprised the guy didn't finally just take a dump on the tree stump and be done with it." This book is not in my son's library, and never will be, for I find it a manual of how to be walk...more
Erin
i learned from this book that a tree can cry. i learned that people are selfish and sometimes thoughtless and at the end of the day will take what they can. and yet - i didn't really learn this till i was much older and looked back on the book through different eyes. when i was young i just thought the tree was great and generous and loving. somedays i am still young and still feel that way. somedays i forget to be young and wonder if i will read this book to my kids - or just leave the cra...more
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topics  posts  views  last activity   
Love it or hate it? 39 161 Feb 07, 2012 05:19pm  
MCC Children's Li...: Children's Books 1 1 Feb 05, 2012 04:58pm  
Who's worse? 75 350 Feb 04, 2012 06:17pm  
Sad, sad, sad 11 198 Dec 29, 2011 11:21am  
The giving tree 50 276 Dec 14, 2011 02:44pm  
How much giving is "too" giving? 35 183 Dec 04, 2011 12:10pm  
The Giving Tree (Hardcover)
The Giving Tree (Hardcover)
The Giving Tree (Hardcover)
The Giving Tree Slipcase Mini Edition (Hardcover)
The Giving Tree  (Hardcover)

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Shel Silverstein is the author-artist of many beloved books of prose and poetry. He was a cartoonist, playwright, poet, performer, recording artist, and Grammy-winning, Oscar-nominated songwriter.
More about Shel Silverstein...
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