The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Giving Tree
Book Review: A book deserving of ten stars........
Summary: 5 Stars
I mourned at the loss of Shel Silverstein, a brillant talent who died last year. It brought back memories of this book, "The Giving Tree" which was given to me when I was around five or so. As a grown woman, I can say without any hesitation, that this tender book still makes me cry to this very day. How such love can be expressed in the simplest of words and drawings is truly remarkable. I have given a copy of this book to all of my close friends and family who've had babies with a message to hold on to it for their children and to read and reflect upon it's message often. It is Shel's gift to the world.Book Review: A book everyone should read
Summary: 5 Stars
The Giving Tree is a venerable American classic about the art of giving.But on the higher, symbolic level, the tree represents God. Aside from being a natural object (non-manmade), the tree is also much larger in statute than the boy.
Furthermore, every time the boy comes to the tree to ask for something, the tree always provides it without protest. Throughout life, the boy and the tree remained friends. Even at death, the tree was still there for the boy, providing a place to sit and rest until he died.
Parents should read this book to and with their children, and every school library should have at least one copy. I was recommended this book by my fourth grade Sunday School teacher. While I didn't understand the symbolism then, it came to me while I was away at college and finding out more about how much of a giver our sovereign God really is.
Read it, appreciate it, buy it.
Book Review: A book that continues to give!
Summary: 4 Stars
This book is about a boy and a tree. He liked to swing from her branches. When he grows older he stays away for a very long time. When he comes back he is very old. The tree was very happy. I like the book because me and my big sister got it as a gift. Also because the tree is very kind to the boy. I learned to share. I reccomend this book to everybody.Book Review: A book with a big heart, great lesson and magnificent feel.
Summary: 5 Stars
Anyone wanting to teach their child a love of nature and human existence must choose this book. A life of give and take is a happy one. When I read this book to my five-year-old son,(He has it memorized.)we always read the sentence,"And the tree was happy" together. Reading this book has, I think, strengthened my son's love for nature. This week, we're forming a leaf collection and plan to plant his own TREE this fall. God bless Shell Silverstein for his vision and his talents.Book Review: A cautionary tale?
Summary: 5 Stars
I read the same symposium that someone else mentioned hereIt set me to thinking about this book (which I still love) in ways Ihadn'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