Chatting Books Online Year 2, Day 113. Today’s a little different , the book of the day today is The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.
I was re-reading this book for the first time in many years today at the bookstore to try and decide if i would recommend it today when a friend came in and we had the most interesting conversation about this book .
My friend brought up that while the tree is very “giving” it made my friend upset that the boy is all take and no give . She asked “is this what we are teaching our children ?” , and I actually had to stop and think about this . And she was right . The tree loves the boy and the boy loves the tree . But the tree gives leaves , and climbing places , and apples , and branches , and then her whole trunk , and finally allows the old man to sit on her stump in his old age . But what does the boy give ? Yes. He says he loves the trees but then he goes away for “a long time “ and only comes back when he needs something - which of course the tree gives .
It is completely a book about unreturned love , given without any expectation , which is a beautiful thing . But she has got me thinking that it would have been nice of the boy to fertilize the tree , or put up a plaque in its honor - or even better, maybe plant a grove of new trees in her honor . But the point of the book is to love and live without expectation . So she has really made me think, and I don’t actually know yet where I end up in this opinion . But what I do know is the book is beautiful , both in writing and in this edition’s binding .
It is slipcovered and bound in green cloth with gold imprint . Really a lovely edition .
So what are your thoughts on The Giving Tree ?
This lovely green cloth bound edition is supplied in a green cloth bound box , it currently sells for $17.99 a copy .
