The Giving Tree

Silverstein, S. (1964). The Giving Tree. New York: Harper & Row.

Readability lexile: 530L

Summary:

The Giving Tree is about a relationship between a boy and a tree. 

When the boy is young and free he comes to the tree to play and eat apples and swing from its branches. As the boy grows older, he finds different uses for the tree, and sees the tree much less often. When the boy needs money, the tree tells the boy to sell her apples. When the boy needs a warm place to put his family, the tree tells the boy to use her branches to build a house. When the boy wants to just leave and go somewhere far away, the tree tells the boy to use her trunk and build a boat. 

Now the tree was just a small stump with nothing to offer, or so the tree thought. The boy was an old man now, and all he wanted was a place to rest. So in the end, the old man sits on the stump, and the tree was happy. 

Evaluation of the text based on Donna Norton's characteristics of high quality literature (Norton, D. (2011):

This book could be used as high quality literature, because it serves for multiple avenues of learning. For example, you could use this book to teach about the greatness of giving. This book could also be used to teach about the importance of sharing. Without giving, there is not appreciation for sharing and vice versa. I believe a great classroom discussion could be held about sharing and giving.

In the Ten Steps for Reviewing Children's Literature by Norton, I think this book addresses the story line the best. This book addresses giving, but really no sharing or anything in return. As you continue to read, the author uses quite a bit of repetition.

Literary Elements:

In The Giving Tree there are a lot of examples of literary elements. What stood out to me in this book were the illustrations. The author does a remarkable job portraying the pictures in the book as simple, yet they explain just enough. 

The writing style is more of a fable because the tree is talking. Fables are when inanimate objects come to life, and the tree is talking to the boy. This allows children to be more actively engaged in the book. It pertains to their interests. 

It does have realistic elements, like the boy sitting on the stump, eating the apples, and swinging on the branches.  

Mini-Lesson:

The lesson I would teach would be about giving and sharing. I would have a discussion about giving, which is the main point in the book, and ask the students ways in which you can give. I would also ask if it is important not only to give, give, and give, but also to share. I would ask the students ways in which you can share. I would bring closure to the lesson by asking the students to create a T-chart on ways in which you can give and ways in which you can share. 

Target Audience: Grade 1 and up

My personal reaction to this book was that it was a good one, and for all ages. I can still read this book, even as a college student, and still thoroughly enjoy the content. It is a sweet tale of love between a boy and nature. I think this sends a message out there to people about nature and how you have to love nature and really have respect for it. There are not many words on each page, which makes it an easy read for all age levels. The pictures definitely tell the story just as the words do and they are very detailed. Each time you can tell that something else is missing from the pictures as you continue to read and flip the pages. This would be a good class book to read aloud.