The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein - and a warm feeling inside!

We read ‘The Giving Tree’ by Shel Silverstein. It tells the story of the relationship between a tree and a little boy. The tree gives many things to the boy:
· Leaves to make a crown
· Foliage to hide and swing in
· A trunk to climb
· Shade to rest in
As the boy grows up, he visits the tree less and less often but the tree is always pleased to see him; and always pleased to give the boy what he needs. Things like:
· A trunk to lean on with his girlfriend
· Apples to sell
· Branches to build a house
· A trunk for a boat
And finally:
· Her stump to sit on

We were a bit puzzled about why the Giving Tree was still happy when all that was left of her was her stump……….

So we talked about what things make us happy. Here are some of the things we said to start with:
· Money to buy things
· New toys
· Candies
· A swimming pool in the garden
· A bicycle to ride on………

Then we got thinking about what makes us happy but doesn’t cost anything.
This was a bit tricky at first, but then Danah said, “Being with my mum and dad.”
Patricia said, “Playing with my mum,” and both Sarah and Maya told us they liked playing with their sister.
Giulia likes, “Playing with my friend,” and Tanmay said that, “Having a best friend,” is what makes him happy.
Per loves running, Azri likes to swing and to play in the sand and Sofia says that playing in the park makes her happy.
Justin and Max said, “Climbing a tree,” and Dangi added, “Playing in the leaves.”
Joe and Evangeline love to write and Fiona and Christopher both love to draw.

Max then summed the story up for us when he observed that, “The tree is happy because she gave something to the boy.”

To end with we tried to see if this would work for us; we wanted to test if we could make a friend happy and whether this would also make us feel happy.

This is just a sample of what happened:

Christopher told his neighbour, “I am your friend.”
Fiona said to her partner, “I like you.”
Azri and Per paid compliments; Azri observed that someone was a fast runner and Per told Dangi he liked his shirt.
Danah hugged Isabella.


.......and their smiling faces said it all!


So - why don’t you see if you can do something to make someone else happy? It won’t cost you any money – and it will give you a warm feeling inside.