Unsurprisingly, perhaps, environmental activists rue the boy’s pillaging of the tree and, by extension, the environment. One blog post, “ Why I Hate The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein,” argues that the book encourages selfishness, narcissism, and codependency. “The Giving Tree” ranks high on both “favorite” and “least favorite” lists of children’s books, and is the subject of many online invectives. She is likewise “happy” to give him her branches, and later her trunk, until there is nothing left of her but an old stump, which the old man, or boy, proceeds to sit on.Ī little Googling corroborated my own distaste. Not having any to offer him, the tree is “happy” to give him her apples to sell. One day, the boy, now a young man, returns, asking for money. But then time passes, and the boy forgets about her. “And the tree was happy,” goes the refrain. (The crocodile in the dentist chair is one of my favorites!) If your reader is thinking they are getting “too old” for bedtime stories, or you don’t have time for a whole book or chapter of something, try reading a poem together instead.The beginning of the story is innocuous enough: a boy climbs a tree, swings from her branches, and devours her apples (I’d never noticed that the tree was a “she”). He also draws illustrations to go with them. Some of them are just plain silly, some are very thoughtful, and some have a little lesson in them. With poems about ice cream, pirates, doing chores, going to school, Silverstein’s poems are something children can relate to in their own lives. This happens to be my favorite collection of his works. Shel Silverstein is a very popular poet for children. And, you know, poetry can just be fun to read! Poetry often gets overlooked for young readers, but it can be a great stepping stone from picture books to chapter books, or comprehension practice for older readers. Shel Silverstein’s masterful collection of poems and drawings stretches the bounds of imagination and will be cherished by readers of all ages. It is a place where you wash your shadow and plant diamond gardens, a place where shoes fly, sisters are auctioned off, and crocodiles go to the dentist. The Unicorn and the Bloath live there, and so does Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout who will not take the garbage out. You’ll meet a boy who turns into a TV set, and a girl who eats a whale. Shel Silverstein, the New York Times bestselling author of The Giving Tree, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, and Every Thing On It, has created a poetry collection that is outrageously funny and deeply profound. Come in… for where the sidewalk ends, Shel Silverstein’s world begins.
0 kommentar(er)
