What The Giving Tree Gives Us

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein moved me the first time I read it and then it spoke to me every single time thereafter.  Shel Silverstein was a brilliant author and poet, but he also understood children.  His gift, his art, was one of words and also of understanding people.   Our young kids listened to this book countless times, but I would even read it to middle school students for various reasons.  As a teacher, there were so many elements of literature and examples of symbolism to use.  As a parent or grandparent, there’s just so much beauty in the story.   It’s a story for our kids, but it’s really a story of sacrificial love that only parents “get”.

Once there was a tree……and she loved a little boy:    perfect personification

And every day the boy would come and he would gather her leaves and make them into crowns and play king of the forest:       memories of BEING outside and imagining

He would climb up her trunk and swing from her branches and eat apples.  And they would play hide and seek:    symbolism

And when he was tired, he would sleep in her shade.  And the boy loved the tree….. very much.  And the tree was happy:    friendship, personification, love, peace  

But time went by.  And the boy grew older.  And the tree was often alone:   foreshadowing

“Then one day the boy came to the tree and the tree said, “Come, Boy, come and climb up on my trunk and swing from my branches…”:    the climax is being set up…..

Now, don’t you want to read the the book again, even though you KNOW the rest? I think it’s a timeless story of friendship and sacrificial love.   It takes us back to our own childhoods and at the same time, it speaks to us as parents, of how we would give up anythig for our children.

There are some precious DAY IDEAS that work with this story:

• Look for things all afternoon that trees give us! Talk about the things that trees provide while they are still planted and growing, as well as what they give us when they are harvested or used for a purpose.
• “Let’s notice things that people do for us today, while getting nothing in return.”
• “Let’s see if we can be the tree today!  What can we do for others without any gain for ourselves?”
• Let’s plant a tree this spring or fall and observe the things the tree gives us at different seasons.  Maybe talk about the seasons of life.
• Talk about why the tree was still happy at the end.  I’m not going to answer this for you (Moms know 😊). What lesson does this teach us about real happiness?

Okay, I’m getting choked up just thinking about it!    One good book can have so much to say.    This book had me at “Once there was a tree, and she loved a little boy.”   Let’s “BOOK” some sweet time with our kids this week.