Module 1: The Giving Tree

Summary:
The book follows both a boy and his tree through the stages of life. At every stage the tree attempts to provide they with all he may need or want for happiness. For the young boy the tree provides companionship and a playmate. As the boy continues to grow, the tree provides a source of income, a home, a method of travel, and finally- a place to rest. At each stage the tree gives all so that the boy may have what his heart desires, regardless of the cost on the part of the tree.

My Thoughts:
This book is a perfect example of how one can say so much without using many words. The author, Shel Silverstein, allows the reader to form their own connection to the story, providing many levels of possible meaning. Personally, each time I read this story I think of my Mom and how she was always there for us and tried to give us what we wanted, even if she knew we might not necessarily need it at the time. Even today, she wants to make sure I am taken care of and protected. While this book is perhaps not the most rick book in terms of language, the author effectively reaches out and draws in the reader.

Their Thoughts:
Excerpt from William Col's NYT Review (1963)
"My interpretation is that that was one dum-dum of a tree, giving everything and getting nothing in return. Once beyond boyhood, the boy is unpleasant and ungrateful, and I wouldn't give him the time of day, much less my bole. But there's a public out there who think otherwise, and Harper & Row expects to sell another 100,000 this year. And this month they are bringing out a version in French, "L'arbre au Grand Coeur." I called Ursula Nordstrom, who has been Shel's editor at Harper & Row, and asked how this all came about. Ursula, noted for finding and encouraging such artists as Maurice Sendak and Tomi Ungerer, had long ago noted Shel's "simple and direct drawings" in Playboy, and tried to get him to do a book. Shel, the hardest man in the world to pin down, didn't react until Tomi Ungerer said, "Go see Ursula." There was tremendous disagreement in the office over "The Giving Tree," one editor saying "That tree is sick! Neurotic!" They did a small first printing in 1964. Nothing much happened. Then, as Ursula says, "The body twitched". Apparently, it had been taken up by the great word-of-mouth underground with an assist from the pulpits; where it was hailed as a parable on the joys of giving, and from Shel's disk-jockey friends, a strange pairing. The book, to me, is simply a backup of "more blessed to give than to receive." My wife's interpretation, not surprisingly, is that the tree represents a mother, giving and receiving with not expectation of return. Whatever it is, it touches a sensitive point clearly and swiftly, as do other recent phenomena of Segals and seagulls."

My Ideas:
I think this book best reaches a junior high age audience. While I may intend for a lesson to go a certain way, children at the junior high level will be able to relate to the story on different levels. My initial plan would be to use it as an introduction to Earth Week. We could discuss and chart renewable vs. non-renewable resources and how we might best use them without taking them for granted as the boy did with the tree. Of course, the conversation can always lead to a different teachable moment!