Once there was a tree...

The Giving Tree

Written and Illustrated by Shel Silverstein

Harper and Row, 1964

51 pages

Picture Book

            This classic story follows a young boy and a generous tree throughout life. The boy enjoys playing with the tree and eating her apples. Over time, the boy begins to grow up and change. As he gets older, his wants and needs evolve causing the tree to give all that she has. Will it be enough for the boy?

            This is one of my absolute favorite books. The illustrations are “scribble sketches” created by Shel Silverstein. I really enjoy the simplicity of the sketches.

            I chose language arts as the content area and third grade as the grade level. After reading the book with the students, an idea that I had would be to create a timeline of events. This would cover the sequencing standards, as well as provide a visual representation of the events. To dig a little deeper, I would ask the following questions:

Why did the boy needed all the things he took from the tree?

Why was the tree so willing to give the boy everything she had?