The Giving Tree

Silverstein had difficulty finding a publisher for The Giving Tree.{{cite news |title=About Alice, a Rabbit, a Tree... |author= Cole, William |newspaper=The New York Times |page=394|date=September 9, 1973}}{{cite news |title=The Children's Authors Who Broke the Rules |author= Paul, Pamela|url= https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/books/review/the-childrens-authors-who-broke-the-rules.html|newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 16, 2011 |access-date=May 18, 2013}} An editor at Simon & Schuster rejected the book's manuscript because he felt that it was "too sad" for children and "too simple" for adults. Tomi Ungerer encouraged Silverstein to approach Ursula Nordstrom, who was a publisher with Harper & Row.

An editor with Harper & Row stated that Silverstein had made the original illustrations "scratchy" like his cartoons for Playboy, but that he later reworked the art in a "more pared-down and much sweeter style". The final black-and-white drawings have been described as "unadorned{{nbsp}}...visual minimalism".{{cite book | last = Spitz | first = Ellen Handler | title = Inside Picture Books | publisher = Yale University Press | location = New Haven, CT | year = 1999 | isbn = 0300076029 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/insidepictureboo00spit_0/page/142 142–144] | url = https://archive.org/details/insidepictureboo00spit_0/page/142 }} Harper & Row published a small first edition of the book, consisting of only 5,000–7,500 copies, in 1964.{{cite journal |author1=Natov, Roni |author2=Geraldine DeLuca |name-list-style=amp |year= 1979 |title= Discovering Contemporary Classics: an Interview with Ursula Nordstrom|journal= The Lion and the Unicorn |volume= 3 |issue= 1 |pages =119–135 |url= http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/uni/summary/v003/3.1.natov01.html|access-date=May 18, 2013|doi= 10.1353/uni.0.0355 |s2cid=146597466 |url-access= subscription }}

The book follows the lives of an apple tree and a boy, who develop a relationship with each other. The tree is very "giving" and the boy ages into a "taking" teenager, a young man, a middle-aged man, and finally an elderly man. Despite the fact that the boy ages in the story, the tree addresses him as "Boy" throughout his entire life.

In his childhood, the boy enjoys playing with the tree, climbing her trunk, swinging from her branches, carving "Me + T (Tree)" into the bark, and eating her apples. However, as the boy grows older, he spends less time with the tree and tends to visit her only when he wants material items at various stages of his life, or not coming to the tree alone [such as bringing his girlfriend to the tree and carving "Me +Y.L." (her initials, often assumed to be an initialism for "young love")] into the tree. In an effort to make the boy happy at each of these stages, the tree gives him parts of herself, which he can transform into material items, such as money from her apples when the boy is a teenager, a house from her branches when the boy is a young man, and a boat from her trunk when the boy is a middle-aged man. With every stage of giving, "the Tree was happy".

In the final pages, both the tree and the boy feel the consequences of their respective "giving" and "taking" nature. When only a stump remains for the tree, the boy returns as a tired elderly man to meet the tree once more. She mentions she cannot provide him shade, apples, or any materials like in the past. The man tells her that all he wants is "a quiet place to sit and rest", which the tree, who is weak being just a stump, could provide. With this final stage of giving, "the Tree was happy".

Interest in the book increased by word of mouth; for example, in churches "it was hailed as a parable on the joys of giving". As of 2001, over 5 million copies of the book had been sold, placing it 14th on a list of hardcover "All-Time Bestselling Children's Books" from Publishers Weekly.{{cite journal |author= Roback, Diane, Jason Britton, and Debbie Hochman Turvey |date= December 17, 2001 |title= All-Time Bestselling Children's Books |journal= Publishers Weekly |volume= 248 |issue= 51 |url= http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20011217/28595-all-time-bestselling-children-s-books.html|access-date=May 18, 2013}} By 2011, 8.5 million copies of the book had been sold.

In a 1999–2000, National Education Association online survey of children, the book was ranked 24th among the "Kids' Top 100 Books".{{cite web |url= http://www.nea.org/grants/13110.htm |title= Kids' Top 100 Books |author= National Education Association |access-date= May 18, 2013 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130201190330/http://www.nea.org/grants/13110.htm |archive-date= February 1, 2013 }} In the 2007 online "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children" poll by the National Education Association, the book came in third.{{cite web |url= http://www.nea.org/grants/13154.htm/ |title= Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children |author= National Education Association |year= 2007|access-date=May 18, 2013}} It was 85th of the "Top 100 Picture Books" of all time in a 2012 poll by School Library Journal.{{cite web |url= http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/afuse8production/2012/07/06/top-100-picture-books-poll-results/ |title= Top 100 Picture Books Poll Results |author= Bird, Elizabeth |publisher= School Library Journal "A Fuse #8 Production" blog |date= May 18, 2013 |access-date= August 19, 2012 |archive-date= December 4, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121204030956/http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/afuse8production/2012/07/06/top-100-picture-books-poll-results |url-status= dead }} Scholastic Parent & Child magazine placed it #9 on its list of "100 Greatest Books for Kids" in 2012.{{cite web |url= http://www.scholastic.com/100books/pdf/Top_100_Childrens_Books_of_All_Time.pdf|title=Parent & Child 100 Greatest AND Books for Kids |author= |year=2012 |publisher= Scholastic Corporation|access-date=May 18, 2013}} As of 2013, it ranked third on a Goodreads list of "Best Children's Books".{{cite web |url= http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/86.Best_Children_s_Books|title=Best Children's Books |author= |year=2008 |publisher= Goodreads|access-date=May 18, 2013}}

The book prompted a diverse scope of interpretations from several critics. These can be summarized:{{cite journal|last1=Pramling Samuelsson|first1=Ingrid |last2=Mauritzson|first2=Ulla|last3=Asplund Carlsson|first3=Maj|last4=Ueda|first4=Miyoko|title=A Mother and a Friend: Differences in Japanese and Swedish Mothers' Understanding of a Tale|journal=Childhood|volume=5|issue=4|year=1998|pages=493–506|issn=0907-5682|doi=10.1177/0907568298005004008|s2cid=145264069 }}{{cite book |last1=Fraustino |first1=Lisa Rowe |chapter=At the Core of The Giving Tree’s Signifying Apples |pages=284–306 | editor1-first=Annette M. |editor1-last=Magid | title = You Are What You Eat: Literary Probes into the Palate | publisher = Cambridge Scholars | location = Newcastle, UK | year = 2008 | isbn = 9781847184924 }}

Ursula Nordstrom attributed the book's success partially to "Protestant ministers and Sunday-school teachers", who believed that the tree represents "the Christian ideal of unconditional love".{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/15/books/review/15MARCUSL.html |newspaper=The New York Times|title='Runny Babbit': Hoppity Hip |first=Leonard S. |last=Marcus|date=May 15, 2005|access-date=May 18, 2013}}

Some have interpreted the tree as Mother Nature and the boy represents humanity. The book has been used to teach children environmental ethics.{{cite news |title=The Examined Life, Age 8 |author= Goodnough, Abby |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/education/edlife/18philosophy-t.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 16, 2010|access-date=May 18, 2013}} An educational resource for children describes the book as an "allegory about the responsibilities a human being has for living organisms in the environment".{{cite book | last = Fredericks | first = Anthony D. | title = The Librarian's Complete Guide to Involving Parents Through Children's Literature Grades K-6 | publisher = Libraries Unlimited | location = Englewood, CO | year = 1997 | isbn = 1563085380 | chapter = 26. The Giving Tree | page = [https://archive.org/details/librarianscomple00fred/page/28 28] | chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/librarianscomple00fred/page/28 }} Lisa Rowe Fraustino states that "some curricula use the book as a what-not-to-do role model".

One writer believes that the relationship between the boy and the tree is one of friendship. As such, the book teaches children "as your life becomes polluted with the trappings of the modern world — as you 'grow up' — your relationships tend to suffer if you let them fall to the wayside".{{cite web|url=http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/08/childrens-books-you-might-hate/|publisher=New York Times|title=Children's Books You (Might) Hate|author=Belkin, Lisa|work="Motherlode: Adventures in Parenting" blog|date=September 8, 2010|access-date=May 18, 2013}} Another writer's criticism of this interpretation is that the tree appears to be an adult when the boy is young, and cross-generational friendships are rare. Additionally, this relationship can be seen from a humanities perspective, emphasizing the need for helping each other.{{cite journal |last1=Cousin |first1=Ertharin |title=The Giving Tree: A Modern-Day Parable of Mutual Responsibility |journal=Michigan Law Review |date=1 April 2015 |volume=113 |issue=6 |pages=767–776 |url=https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol113/iss6/2/ |id={{ProQuest|1672624312}} |jstor=24770801 }}

A common interpretation of the book is that the tree and the boy have a mother–son relationship, as in a 1995 collection of essays about the book edited by Richard John Neuhaus in the journal First Things.{{cite journal|url=http://www.firstthings.com/article/2008/08/002-the-giving-tree-a-symposium-43|author1=May, William F.|author1-link=William F. May (ethicist)|author2=Amy A. Kass|author2-link=Amy Kass|author3=Marc Gellman|author4=Midge Decter|author4-link=Midge Decter|author5-link=Gilbert Meilaender|author5=Gilbert Meilaender|author6-link=Mary Ann Glendon|author6=Mary Ann Glendon|author7=William Werpehowski|author8=Timothy Fuller|author9-link=Leon Kass|author9=Leon R. Kass|author10=Timothy P. Jackson|author11-link=Jean Bethke Elshtain|author11=Jean Bethke Elshtain|author12=Richard John Neuhaus|author12-link=Richard John Neuhaus|title=The Giving Tree: A Symposium|date=January 1995|publisher=The Institute on Religion and Public Life|journal=First Things|access-date=May 18, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512035637/http://www.firstthings.com/article/2008/08/002-the-giving-tree-a-symposium-43|archive-date=May 12, 2013}} Among the essayists, some were positive about the relationship; for example, Amy A. Kass wrote about the story that "it is wise and it is true about giving and about motherhood", and her husband Leon R. Kass encourages people to read the book because the tree "is an emblem of the sacred memory of our own mother's love". Other essayists put forth negative views. Mary Ann Glendon wrote that the book is "a nursery tale for the 'me' generation, a primer of narcissism, a catechism of exploitation", and Jean Bethke Elshtain felt that the story ends with the tree and the boy "both wrecks".

A 1998 study using phenomenographic methods found that Swedish children and mothers tended to interpret the book as dealing with friendship, while Japanese mothers tended to interpret the book as dealing with parent–child relationships.

Christopher Westley, writing for the Mises Institute (an anarcho-capitalist think-tank), describes the tree-boy relationship as similar to a socialist or communist government that extracts far too much from its citizens while not providing anything back in return. He describes this unsustainable and parasitic relationship as something toxic and ought to be avoided at all costs, regardless of whether on an individual level, such as two lovers, or a parent and child, or on the level of voter to their government.{{cite web |last1=Westley |first1=Christopher |date=14 October 2004 |title=That Insufferable "Giving Tree" |url=https://mises.org/library/insufferable-giving-tree |access-date=12 November 2021 |website=Mises.org |publisher=Mises Institute}}

Some authors believe that the book is not actually intended for children, but instead should be treated as a satire aimed at adults along the lines of A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift.{{cite journal|author1=Jackson, Jacqueline |author2=Carol Dell |name-list-style=amp |year=1979 |title= The Other Giving Tree|journal=Language Arts |volume=56 |issue= 4|pages= 427–429|jstor=41404822 }}{{cite journal|author1=Strandburg, Walter L. |author2=Norma J. Livo |name-list-style=amp |title=The Giving Tree or There is a Sucker Born Every Minute|journal=Children's Literature in Education|volume=17|issue=1|year=1986|pages=17–24|doi=10.1007/BF01126946|s2cid=143366143 }}

Elizabeth Bird, writing for the School Library Journal, described The Giving Tree as "one of the most divisive books in children's literature".{{cite web |url= http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/05/18/top-100-picture-books-85-the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein/|title= Top 100 Picture Books #85: The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein|author= Bird, Elizabeth | publisher=School Library Journal "A Fuse #8 Production" blog|date= May 18, 2012|access-date=May 18, 2013}} Criticism revolves about the depiction of the relationship between the boy and the tree.{{cite journal |author= Spitz, Ellen Handler|date=May–June 1999 |title= Classic children's book|journal=American Heritage |volume=50 |issue= 3|pages= 46|url=http://www.americanheritage.com/content/classic-children%E2%80%99s-book|access-date=May 18, 2013}}

{{blockquote |Totally self-effacing, the 'mother' treats her 'son' as if he were a perpetual infant, while he behaves toward her as if he were frozen in time as an importunate baby. This overrated picture book thus presents as a paradigm for young children a callously exploitative human relationship — both across genders and across generations. It perpetuates the myth of the selfless, all-giving mother who exists only to be used and the image of a male child who can offer no reciprocity, express no gratitude, feel no empathy — an insatiable creature who encounters no limits for his demands.}}

Winter Prosapio said that the boy never thanks the tree for its gifts.{{cite news |title=A Lesson from 'The Giving Tree' |author= Prosapio, Winter |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0512/p18s03-hfes.html |newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor|date=May 12, 2006 |access-date=May 18, 2013}} In an interview with Horn Book Magazine, Phyllis J. Fogelman, an editor with Harper & Row, said the book is "about a sadomasochistic relationship" and "elevates masochism to the level of a good",{{cite journal |author=Marcus, Leonard S. |date=March–April 1999 |title=An Interview with Phyllis J. Fogelman |journal=Horn Book Magazine |volume=75 |issue=2 |pages=148–164 |url=http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~jtthomas/shelby.pdf |access-date=May 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130108021228/http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/%7Ejtthomas/shelby.pdf |archive-date=2013-01-08 |url-status=dead }} which mirrors Mary Daly's analysis in Gyn/Ecology: the Metaethics of Radical Feminism.{{cite book | last = Daly | first = Mary | author-link = Mary Daly| title = Gyn/Ecology: the Metaethics of Radical Feminism | publisher = Beacon Press | location = Boston | year = 1990 | isbn = 0807014133 | page = 90 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=_Vhe2AgQYckC&pg=PA90 | quote = Here is a model for masochism for female readers of all ages, and of sadism for boys of all ages...The saccharine sweet story of a little boy who 'loves' a tree—a young Apollo who crowns himself with her leaves—has 'healthier' appeal than overt S and M biblical tales of a dead godman crowned with thorns. }}

One college instructor discovered that the book caused both male and female remedial reading students to be angry because they felt that the boy exploited the tree.{{cite journal |author= Juchartz, Larry R|date=December 2003 – January 2004 |title= Team Teaching with Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein in the College Basic Reading Classroom|journal= Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy |volume= 47|issue=4 |pages=336–341}} For teaching purposes, he paired the book with a short story by Andre Dubus entitled "The Fat Girl" because its plot can be described as The Giving Tree "in reverse".

Ruth Margalit further relayed the damaging message that mothers sometimes have by receiving The Giving Tree as a gift; she quotes children's book author Laurel Snyder who said, "When you give a new mother ten copies of 'The Giving Tree,' it does send a message to the mother that we are supposed to be this person."{{cite magazine |last1=Margalit |first1=Ruth |date=5 November 2014 |title="The Giving Tree" at Fifty: Sadder Than I Remembered |url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/giving-tree-50-sadder-remembered |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=12 November 2021}}

{{Multiple image|perrow = 2|total_width = 320

| align = right

| image1 = Portrait of Shel Silverstein in c. 1964 by Jerry Yulsman.jpg

| caption1 = Photograph of Silverstein that is used on the back cover of the book.

| image2 = Portrait of Shel Silverstein in c. 1974.jpg

| caption2 = Photograph of Silverstein that is used on the back cover of Where the Sidewalk Ends.

}}

The photograph of Silverstein on the back cover of the book has attracted negative attention, with some people finding it frightening.{{cite news |title='SHELebration: A Tribute to Shel Silverstein' to Honor Writer Born in Chicago |author=Kogan, Rick |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2009/07/12/for-a-night-shel-silverstein-is-ours/ |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=July 12, 2009 |access-date=May 18, 2013}}{{cite news |title=Children's books that creep me out: What was up with 'Natural Bear?' |author=Ruhalter, Eric |url=http://www.nj.com/parenting/eric_ruhalter/index.ssf/2010/01/childrens_books_sometimes_scar.html |newspaper=New Jersey On-Line |date=January 11, 2010 |access-date=May 18, 2013}}

A short animated film of the book, produced in 1973, featured Silverstein's narration.{{cite AV media |people= Bosustow, Nick, and Shel Silverstein (Producers); Hayward, Charlie O. (Director and Animator); Silverstein, Shel (Original Story, Music, and Narration) |year= 1973|title=The Giving Tree |medium=VHS |publisher= SVE & Churchill Media|location=Chicago, IL |oclc= 48713769 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TZCP6OqRlE |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/1TZCP6OqRlE |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title= The Giving Tree: Based on the Book and Drawings by Shel Silverstein|year=1973 |publisher=Churchill Films|website=YouTube |access-date=May 18, 2013}}{{cbignore}}

Silverstein also wrote a song of the same name, which was performed by Bobby Bare and his family on his album Singin' in the Kitchen (1974).{{cite AV media |people= Bobby Bare and the Family (Musicians); Silverstein, Shel (Principal Composer) |year= 1973|title=Singin' in the Kitchen|medium=LP |publisher=RCA Victor|location=New York|oclc= 6346534}}

Silverstein created an adult version of the story in a cartoon entitled "I Accept the Challenge".{{cite magazine |author=Thomas, Joseph Jr. |date=2016-09-10 |title=Reappraising Uncle Shelby |url=http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~jtthomas/shelby.pdf |url-status=dead |magazine=The Horn Book Magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160910154749/http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~jtthomas/shelby.pdf |archive-date=2016-09-10 |access-date=2018-11-02}} In the cartoon, a nude woman cuts off a nude man's arms and legs with scissors, then sits on his torso in a pose similar to the final drawing in The Giving Tree in which the old man sits on the stump.

University of Illinois Springfield professor Jacqueline Jackson and Carol Dell (1979) wrote an "alternative version" of the story for teaching purposes that was entitled "The Other Giving Tree". It featured two trees next to each other and a boy growing up. One tree acted like the one in The Giving Tree, ending up as a stump, while the other tree stopped at giving the boy apples, and does not give the boy its branches or trunk. At the end of the story, the stump was sad that the old man chose to sit under the shade of the other tree.

In 2010, two parodies were published by different authors, The Taking Tree and The Taking Tree: A Selfish Parody,{{cite book | isbn=978-1442407633 | title=The Taking Tree: A Selfish Parody | last1=Travesty | first1=Shrill | date=19 October 2010 | publisher=Simon and Schuster }}[https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Tree-Dan-Ewen/dp/1453781773/ref=pd_lpo_sccl_1/132-3377777-1160642?pd_rd_w=mrsFJ&content-id=amzn1.sym.4c8c52db-06f8-4e42-8e56-912796f2ea6c&pf_rd_p=4c8c52db-06f8-4e42-8e56-912796f2ea6c&pf_rd_r=SVBVY7XT7NTG9KS7XEZ1&pd_rd_wg=rIsrQ&pd_rd_r=8338938e-4fda-4a4f-bee6-9d72503a168f&pd_rd_i=1453781773&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Tree-Dan-Ewen/dp/1453781773] that use comedy to change the story and its message. And later, writer Topher Payne came up with an alternate ending by modifying the second half of the book, calling it "The Tree Who Set Healthy Boundaries".{{Cite web |title=The Giving Tree- Alternate Ending |url=https://www.topherpayne.com/giving-tree |access-date=2024-08-03 |website=topher payne |language=en}}

The Giving Tree Band took its name from the book.{{cite news |title=Giving Tree Band Takes Story to Heart |author= Markstrom, Serena |url= http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Giving+Tree+Band+takes+story+to+heart.-a0230805426|newspaper=The Register-Guard |date=June 18, 2010|access-date=May 18, 2013}} Plain White T's EP Should've Gone to Bed has a song "The Giving Tree", written by Tim Lopez. The 2010 short film I'm Here, written and directed by Spike Jonze, is based on The Giving Tree; the main character Sheldon is named after Shel Silverstein.{{cite web |url=http://thefilmstage.com/news/sundance-review-spike-jonze-creates-unique-love-story-with-im-here/ |title= [Sundance Review] Spike Jonze Creates Unique Love Story With 'I'm Here'|author=Coates, Kristen |date=February 8, 2010 |website=The Film Stage |access-date=May 18, 2013|quote='I was trying to take the influence of The Giving Tree, but write about relationships,' says Jonze. 'I love Shel Silverstein. I just love him.'}}

• Children's literature criticism

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite journal|last1=Moriya|first1=Keiko|title=A Developmental and Crosscultural Study on the Interpersonal Cognition of Swedish and Japanese Children|journal=Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research|volume=33|issue=3|year=1989|pages=215–227|doi=10.1080/0031383890330304}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Asplund Carlsson|first1=Maj |last2=Pramling|first2=Ingrid|last3=Wen|first3=Qiufeng|last4=Izumi|first4=Chise|title=Understanding a Tale in Sweden, Japan and China|journal=Early Child Development and Care|volume=120|issue=1|year=1996|pages=17–28|doi=10.1080/0300443961200102}}
• {{cite book | editor = Costello, Peter R | title = Philosophy in Children's Literature | publisher = Lexington Books | location = Lanham, MD | year = 2012 | isbn = 9780739168233 | author = Miller, Ellen | chapter = 15: The Giving Tree and Environmental Philosophy: Listening to Deep Ecology, Feminism and Trees | pages = [https://archive.org/details/philosophyinchil0000unse/page/251 251–266] | chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/philosophyinchil0000unse/page/251 }}
• {{cite book | editor = Costello, Peter R | title = Philosophy in Children's Literature | publisher = Lexington Books | location = Lanham, MD | year = 2012 | isbn = 9780739168233 | author = Radeva, Milena | chapter = 16: The Giving Tree, Women, and the Great Society | pages = [https://archive.org/details/philosophyinchil0000unse/page/267 267–283] | chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/philosophyinchil0000unse/page/267 }}
• {{cite journal|last1=Hinson-Hasty|first1=Elizabeth|title=Revisiting Feminist Discussions of Sin and Genuine Humility|journal=Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion|volume=28|issue=1|year=2012|pages=108–114|doi=10.2979/jfemistudreli.28.1.108|s2cid=170454783}}

{{Portal |Children's literature}}

• {{cite news |title=Silverstein's 'The Giving Tree' Celebrates 40 Years in Print |author=Lindsey, Charley |url=http://staugustine.com/stories/061104/com_2373115.shtml |newspaper=Knight Ridder Newspapers |date=June 11, 2004 |access-date=May 18, 2013 |archive-date=April 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413112539/http://staugustine.com/stories/061104/com_2373115.shtml |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite web |url=https://mises.org/daily/1652 |title=That Insufferable 'Giving Tree' |author=Westley, Christopher |date=October 21, 2004 |website=Mises Daily |publisher=Ludwig von Mises Institute }}

{{Shel Silverstein}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giving Tree, The}}

Category:1964 children's books

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Category:Works about trees

Category:Apples in culture