Then and now, My parents bought a home in Mill Valley, Marin County, they divorced after my sister Jennifer was born, 1971, My mother moved us to Washington to be closer to her parents. We moved the Bakersfield for 5 years 75, Santa Rosa,81, Hawaii, 1983, I moved in my father and began attending Lincoln High school. I stayed in Northern California, I currently live in Marin County, I’ve raised my children here. I graduated from the same high school as my father, Lincoln High School, in the Sunset, class of 1987. I graduated from San Francisco State in 1994. I have a degree in Psychology and Recreation Management. I’m currently 49 and my youngest child is a Senior at San Rafael High School. My favorite presidents so far are Clinton and Obama. I would take either spouse in a second for a future president. I have been running missjeanswimming, I am supporting the legalization of Cannabis, Gender Equality,. I was part of a grassroots movement to overturn Prop ^ and allow anyone the right to get married. I personally don’t need to be married to be loving and faithful to my own morality and a person I share my life with. Everyone is a friend of mine if they want. I am a transitioner of thoughts and people and every energy that shows up gets mirrored. I love Hemp it is such a viable resource that helps instead of hurts the planet. I follow my heart, my intuition when it comes to my health and happiness. The Earth is our mother, I take care of her, by being less wasteful, so she struggles less to provide. So she can rest, rinse and repeat. In my world, everything is really calm, different from slow. I also write a blog about recordkeeping for my family and friends, I’m very passionate about using essential oils around yourself for mood control and your family for overall immunity boosting of the environment. I take supplements for my body’s changes, like age, menopause, cellular support, etc. I want to continue the work that was started and move toward peace with the planet and then each other. I feel the mother of Climate is going through her change, So be nice to your mother, she loves you unconditionally,. Ever since I was a little kid I alway’s loved the book the Giving Tree.
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.”[3] The final black-and-white drawings have been described as “unadorned… visual minimalism.”[4] Harper & Row published a small first edition of the book, consisting of only 5,000–7,500 copies, in 1964.[5]
The book follows the lives of a female apple tree and a boy, who develop a relationship with one another. The tree is very “giving” and the boy evolves into a “taking” teenager, man, then an elderly man. Despite the fact that the boy ages in the story, the tree addresses the boy as “Boy” 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 a lady friend to the tree and carving “Me +Y.L.” (her initials) 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), a house (from her branches), and a boat (from her trunk). With every stage of giving, “the Tree was happy”.
Environmental interpretation
Some people believe that the tree represents Mother Nature and the boy represents humanity. The book has been used to teach children environmental ethics.[15] An educational resource for children describes the book as an “allegory about the responsibilities a human being has for living organisms in the environment,”[16] Lisa Rowe Fraustino states that “some curricula use the book as a what-not-to-do role model.”[13]
Friendship interpretation
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.”[17] 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.[17]
In the final pages, both the tree and the boy feel the sting of their respective “giving” and “taking” nature. When only a stump remains for the tree (including the carving “Me + T”), she is not happy, at least at that moment. The boy does return as a tired elderly man to meet the tree once more. She tells him she is sad because she cannot provide him shade, apples, or any materials like in the past. He ignores this and states 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”.
I love the idea that the tree just wanted to give, that’s what gave her happiness.
Thank you, Tree.
Love,
Miss Jean
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