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Book Summary

Reviewed by Peter Lewis

Shel Silverstein's fable about giving (not always wisely, but deeply) and taking (often without thought but almost always with profound consequences) will stay forever fixed in your mind. It is deservedly one of the best-selling children's books of all time. Both the text and the line drawings are like haiku in their potent simplicity.

Is It Any Good?

4

The spare text and the expressive line drawings add to the beauty and solemnity of this story, focusing its power, and Shel Silverstein gives a thoughtful look at the cycle of life of the boy. The author challenges readers of all ages to think about how they sometimes take loved ones for granted, and many images will give readers an ache in their heart: the boy embracing the tree with his chubby arms, the adolescent leaning against the sheltering tree lost in thought. The tree, too, goes through stages: from leafy to ripe with fruit to branchless and, finally, stumpy.

A classroom of 7-year-olds was unusually silent after reading it, although the silence didn't last long. Still, an impression had been made.

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