https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 08 May 2026 12:44:01 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein#post-2234540 Mon, 13 Jul 2015 07:30:11 +0000 lovehoneybee 2234540@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It really rubs me the wrong way (#5!) but it's one of D's favorite books, go figure... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein#post-2234443 Mon, 13 Jul 2015 01:27:29 +0000 808love 2234443@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I haven't used this with my class for years but when I did, it was before LO and I used it to provide a variety of examples of caring behaviors. Great tool to deepen thinking. </p> <p>It might be useful to read it to my LO with questions like- How would this be different than with 2 humans? What if there were more than 1 tree? How does the man feel at the end of the book? How does the tree feel? What kind of tree would you like and why? How can people take care of trees? How can people take care of one another?<br /> I could go on for days....haha! Poor LO! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein#post-2233738 Sat, 11 Jul 2015 15:24:54 +0000 coopsmama 2233738@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I love this book. My cousin gave it to my son last year for Christmas and wrote this beautiful inscription in it:</p> <p>"Praying that God will give you eyes to see the blessings He gives you through the love and selflessness of others, so that as you grow, you can bless them in turn." </p> <p>I'm excited to use the book to teach my kids about being grateful and gracious recipients and about loving others selflessly (which is possible to do without falling into the trap of codependency and whatnot). I think we need more of that in this culture. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein#post-2233717 Sat, 11 Jul 2015 14:08:06 +0000 Mrs. Pen 2233717@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have always liked it, though a bit sad. </p> <p>I remember my mom gave it to one of her best friends to thank her for her selfless friendship. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein#post-2233705 Sat, 11 Jul 2015 12:59:19 +0000 winter_wonder 2233705@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My grandma used to read this to me! I liked it but I also found it a bit sad as a child. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein#post-2233697 Sat, 11 Jul 2015 12:43:23 +0000 Maysprout 2233697@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I hated it when I was little. My mom would read it to us and cry. The story would make me feel like a horrible person. Like parents feel that they are destroying themselves for their children. And I didn't want someone destroying themself for me. Unconditional love is great but destroying yourself because your kid doesn't have empathy to see past their own needs seems silly. I tried reading it again once I had kids, still can't get over what an asshole the kid is. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein#post-2233692 Sat, 11 Jul 2015 12:31:37 +0000 matador84 2233692@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This is one of my all time favorite books but I have a hard time reading it without crying now! I feel like the overarching theme is a mother (the giving tree) and her unconditional love for her son (the boy).that it's a book about selflessness and not selfishness. Mothering is a role where often you give and give... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein#post-2233685 Sat, 11 Jul 2015 12:03:52 +0000 ktdid23 2233685@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I can't even. #5, for sure. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein#post-2233683 Sat, 11 Jul 2015 11:52:41 +0000 autumnleaves 2233683@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>For me, it's a story about unconditional love. We retold the story as part of our wedding vows and it was a theme at our wedding. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein#post-2233681 Sat, 11 Jul 2015 11:49:30 +0000 Kimberlybee 2233681@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've never been a fan of this book. I have never read it to DD and will not buy it. The boy is such a selfish, ungrateful kid and the tree, as loving as it is, enables the behavior. It's such a depressing book! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein#post-2233570 Sat, 11 Jul 2015 08:00:33 +0000 Finfan 2233570@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This book is the worst! No intention of reading it to our kids ever. Same with Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. I like all the other books I've read by those authors but these ones--yuck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein#post-2233555 Sat, 11 Jul 2015 07:09:39 +0000 ms.line 2233555@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We read this book in Sunday school when I was a kid, presumably to teach a lesson about God's unconditional love. However, I thought it was messed up then, and I think it's messed up now! Boundaries are critical, dude. Not planning on including it in our library. I do love Shel Silverstein's poetry, though. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein#post-2233551 Sat, 11 Jul 2015 06:35:58 +0000 ineebee 2233551@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I love this book. I believe it's about unconditional love. I think the way the tree gives so unselfishly is shockingly beautiful. I read it to my elementary school students, and they aren't impressed with much. But when I get to the part where he gives him his trunk, I get some real visceral reactions. It's such a great book for discussions about friendship, generosity, giving too much, being selfish, etc. One of my classes loved it so much they wanted to turn it into a play, so we did! It was great. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein#post-2233548 Sat, 11 Jul 2015 06:18:15 +0000 delight 2233548@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hmmmm we were given this book for Christmas this year and I haven't read it yet! I'll have to read it tonight and report back! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein#post-2233545 Sat, 11 Jul 2015 05:47:35 +0000 hellobeeboston 2233545@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I loved loved this book as a child. I read it again for the first time a few years ago and also found it very sad. I really love the illustrations still. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein#post-2233541 Sat, 11 Jul 2015 05:39:01 +0000 MrsF 2233541@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My husband reads this book to my daughter all the time. They both love it and I HATE it. I always leave the room. He thinks I'm crazy but the story just makes me feel terrible. Some things make you feel sad in kind of a nice, wistful way, but that book makes me feel sad in a really bad way :sad: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein#post-2233529 Sat, 11 Jul 2015 01:39:13 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 2233529@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I remember when I read it as a child, I loved it. I loved the idea of unconditional love... someone that would provide no matter what. So that's what I felt/thought as a kid.</p> <p>As an adult, I think this book is whack. We own it, and I am thinking about donating it haha. So I'm with you, #5 all the way. Toxic relationship for sure. Too bad the tree doesn't have legs and can't flee. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein#post-2233525 Sat, 11 Jul 2015 01:11:39 +0000 youboots 2233525@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've always seen it as a story of unconditional love. It was the first book M read to T after we got home from the PICU and he &amp; I both cried while her was reading it to her. It's a special book to me. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein#post-2233524 Sat, 11 Jul 2015 01:08:42 +0000 mrbee 2233524@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I read Shel Silverstein's "The Giving Tree" for the first time tonight, and was so shocked by the story! The boy just takes and takes from the tree... it was such a heartbreaking story to me. Here it is on YouTube, read by ol' Shel himself:</p> <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TZCP6OqRlE" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TZCP6OqRlE</a></p> <p>I hopped online after the kids were down and apparently people respond to the story very differently. Here are some of the interpretations, paraphrased from Wikipedia:</p> <p>&lt;&lt; 1. The tree represents God or Jesus and the boy represents humankind. Some people believe that the tree represents "the Christian ideal of unconditional love."<br /> 2. The tree represents Mother Nature and the boy represents humankind. Some people believe that the book is an "allegory about the responsibilities a human being has for living organisms in the environment," that is, as a "what-not-to-do role model."<br /> 3. The tree and the boy are friends (i.e., "the message of the tale is seen as a relation between adults"). The book teaches children "as your life becomes polluted with the trappings of the modern world — as you 'grow up' — your relationships tend to suffer if you let them fall to the wayside."<br /> 4. The tree and the boy have a parent-child relationship. The story "perpetuates the myth of the selfless, all-giving mother who exists only to be used and the image of a male child who can offer no reciprocity, express no gratitude, feel no empathy — an insatiable creature who encounters no limits for his demands." &gt;&gt;</p> <p>I viewed it differently, as 5. a dysfunctional emotionally-abusive relationship, where one person just selfishly takes and takes from another - and the other is too codependent to even realize what is going on. Haha maybe I'm projecting some people from my life onto a children's book. It seems like lots of people do that - there are dozens of fervent explanations online about what people think the book is about.</p> <p>Anyway, what do you think of The Giving Tree... just a fun children's book? The saddest book you've ever read? </p>