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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/370493.The_Giving_Tree?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Giving Tree" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1174210942m/370493.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/370493.The_Giving_Tree?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Giving Tree</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/435477.Shel_Silverstein">Shel Silverstein</a><br/><br/>
  <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/18944729?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
  rating: 5 of 5 stars<br/>I read this book over and over again as a young child. My grandmother had this book and every time I went to visit her I would read it over and over. Yes, The Giving Tree is a sad book, but that's the point. I never empathized with the boy in the story because there was no reason to, the main character of the book was it's title character the tree. Time and time again I would mourn the loss of the tree and the short-sighted antagonist the little boy who murders our peaceful and helpless heroine the tree. One could say that not only is the book about environmentalism, but also that it is a narrative about gender. The young boy is exercising his masculinity by exerting power and control over the tree who is warm, friendly, giving, and most importantly helpless, things traditionally associated with femininity. In this light, The Giving Tree becomes a terrifying allegory of domestic violence, but I hardly think that children would make this connection.
<br/>
<br/>What the author intended was for a reader to apply a small amount of critical thinking and to have an intact moral compass that would inform them of the wrong that was done. The moral wasn't spelled out per say, because he wanted in inspire thought in children's minds, so that they would aspire to not follow the example of the antagonist. I would definitely share this book with my children to teach them to respect the earth.
  <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1034983?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Cristine's review
rating:
recommended for: children to teach them to respect the earth and the people around them

I read this book over and over again as a young child. My grandmother had this book and every time I went to visit her I would read it over and over. Yes, The Giving Tree is a sad book, but that's the point. I never empathized with the boy in the story because there was no reason to, the main character of the book was it's title character the tree. Time and time again I would mourn the loss of the tree and the short-sighted antagonist the little boy who murders our peaceful and helpless heroine the tree. One could say that not only is the book about environmentalism, but also that it is a narrative about gender. The young boy is exercising his masculinity by exerting power and control over the tree who is warm, friendly, giving, and most importantly helpless, things traditionally associated with femininity. In this light, The Giving Tree becomes a terrifying allegory of domestic violence, but I hardly think that children would make this connection.

What the author intended was for a...more

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