The Giving Tree - Shel Silverstein - A Short Summary and Review
The Giving Tree - Shel Silverstein - A Short Summary and Review
By: a.d. elliott | Take the Back Roads - Art and Other Odd Adventures
A Rite of Fancy Book Recommendation and Review
A short summary:
The Giving Tree tells the story of a tree that loves a boy without condition. As the boy grows older, his needs change, and the tree responds by giving him everything it has: apples, branches, a trunk, and finally, a place to rest. The tree gives joyfully, repeatedly, and without expectation of return, measuring happiness not by what it keeps, but by what it gives.
By the end, the tree is reduced to a stump, and the boy, now an old man, finally asks for nothing more than a quiet place to sit. “And the tree was happy.”
My favorite quote from the book:
Questions I pondered while reading the book:
My review:
This book hit me harder as an adult than it ever could have as a child.
While often presented as a gentle parable of love and generosity, The Giving Tree also reads as a cautionary tale about imbalance, entitlement, and the quiet cost of never saying no. The boy takes, and keeps taking—rarely acknowledging what the tree loses along the way. I found myself frustrated with him, even angry on the tree’s behalf.
And the tree? I felt deeply sad about it. Its love is absolute, but also self-erasing. What begins as generosity turns into total depletion. The story raises uncomfortable questions about love without boundaries and the romanticization of self-sacrifice.
This isn’t a book about kindness alone—it’s about limits. Or perhaps the danger of not having any.
“Never ask something for everything” feels like the lesson that lingers long after the final page. The Giving Tree remains deceptively simple, emotionally complicated, and profoundly unsettling in the best way: it makes you stop, reflect, and reconsider what love should look like, especially when it costs too much.
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About the Author
a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller traveling through life
She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.
You can also browse her online photography gallery at shop.takethebackroads.com.
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