The Giving Tree

I had a unique experience in the library a few weeks ago. I was helping my daughter gather some books for her science paper. We start with children's books since they distill loads of information down to manageable nuggets.

The librarian brought me a book with the biggest grin on her face. She said to me that it was her most favorite book on trees. It was a fiction book, not what I needed, but her joy made me so curious I checked it out.

The Giving Tree was written by Shel Silverstein. The tree analogy was a bit weird but it did express the giving roll of a parent to me, and I saw the selfishness in the child turned man which was disheartening.

I asked my daughter to read it to see if she had the same sad but sweet emotional reaction I did. She liked it but it did not move her emotionally. She did decide to use it in her paper. This should be interesting.

Curious about the author I looked up his web site. There they recount this book had a hard time becoming published because some people felt the book fell between adult and children's literature. Harper & Row finally published it in 1964.

But then ... digging deeper I saw controversy over this book. Lovers and haters all weighting in. Plus analysis of his life experience to book theme. Wow, who knew?

For music lovers, this is the same guy who wrote  “A Boy Named Sue” for Johnny Cash and “The Cover of the Rolling Stone,” sung by Dr. Hook.  Who knew that?

All prayers are appreciated for a new song. The idea has been rattling around in my head for more than 15 years.