The versatile Shel Silverstein was a poet, children’s author, composer, cartoonist, and screenwriter. He recorded several albums, scored films, and wrote such pop favorites as "A Boy Named Sue" and "The Unicorn Song." However, Silverstein is probably best known for his children’s books, especially A Light in the Attic, Where the Sidewalk Ends and The Giving Tree, which is featured here. This modern classic tells of the lifelong relationship between a tree and a boy. At each stage of life the tree happily gives the boy, from its own substance, whatever he asks for. In the end the tree is only a stump on which the boy, now an old man, sits to rest. This deceptively simple tale raises profound questions about giving and receiving: What makes a good gift? What is wise giving? What do we expect from those to whom we give?
See Discussion suggestions for The Giving Tree.