Holy Guacamole! I love nature and hate humanity. Even more than I did before!This may be, along with The Velveteen Rabbit, one of the best children’s book I’ve ever read, if not the best period; can’t decide which I love more. This was pure devastating PERFECTION, Wilde style. To achieve so much, in so few pages… simply MAJESTIC. 6 stars, easy. Equally good for children AND adults. I actually think this is an adult’s book disguised as a children’s; because any child can enjoy it, truly, but u...

Should Be Called The Codependent TreeThere is a boy and a tree. The boy constantly asks the tree for things. Even as the boy grows old, he never stops asking the tree for assistance. He never does anything for the tree. And the tree is happy.Every time I read this book, it gives me a queasy feeling. It is a visceral reaction. This book doesn’t sit right with me. Why would anyone have to be a shell of themselves to make someone else happy? Why does a one-directional relationship make the tree hap...

I recently read this book to my little boy. It's not the first time I've read it. It's probably not even the tenth time. But it's the first time I've read the book in a decade, and given the fact that my memory is like a cheese grater, I like to think I got a pretty fresh experience. The result is this: I honestly don't know how I feel about this book. Even if you haven't read the story, you probably know the gist of it. A tree loves a young boy and gives away pieces of itself to the boy to make...

I added this book to my shelf years ago in the physical world. I've read it, I don't know how many times, mostly aloud to children. In conversations with other people, I've discovered that there is strong dislike for this book. I like this book, mostly because it does make me uncomfortable. I'd say the same thing about Shel Silverstein's The Missing Piece. You can read either of these books in less than 15 minutes, so I'm not going to worry too much about a spoiler. Basically, the tree is friend...

As a child this book is like “wow trees are the greatest!”Get a little older and its “wow this is super sad and I need a cry”Then you stop and think “wow this is super dark and depressingly accurate about society that the woman is represented as a tree who sacrifices everything to this man and he doesn’t appreciate her labor until shes a stump that has nothing left to give and he’s still just a sad shit and that is a very accurate metaphor of patriarchy and the unequal expectations and demands o...

HEY, KIDS AND SHEL SILVERSTEIN FANS! COME OVER HERE AND READ THIS!Okay, this some motherfuckin' fucked-up shit right here. The Giving Tree is the straight-up wack story of how this selfish little ass-faced prick kicks it with this full-on saintly tree. Ever'thin' fine for a while, y'all, with the lil' prick all gettin' up in there an' sayin' to the tree, "Yeah, you know you mah bitch," but then all of a sudden, this jumped-up prick go through puberty, get his chia on or some such shit, and so he...

I know that many people have a sentimental love for this book, and I respect that -- you can't rationalize emotional connection. And generally, I like this author. But with this book, since it inspired no real emotional response in me, I am left with only the rational perspective, which in me was this: This book troubles me deeply, because it enshrines self-destructive and self-pitying martyrdom as the paragon of love for others. And I think there is already far too much of this in our society. ...

Co-dependent tree needs to set some fucking boundaries.

Yes, the boy is a selfish bastard, who doesn't deserve the love and generosity he gets time and again. Anyone who read this book as a child is well aware of this fact.Nonetheless, I'm shocked to see how many disliked it. My only thought is that many readers allow their hatred for the boy to be confused with hatred for the book. Does the book condone the boy's behavior, or simply seek to tell a narrative? Does the quality of a book suffer when the moral quality of its characters flags?It is the j...

Scrolling down, it seems several reviewers resent this book's apparently heavy-handed message about selfishness/selflessness. I can totally understand why they find it upsetting or sappy. Overbearing, even. But I don't agree.Some fascinating theories have been put forth about The Giving Tree. It's deceptively simple on its surface, yes. But if this were truly just some hard and fast hippie dippy morality tale, would its two main characters (living natural tree, growing human boy) and their relat...