Full Project Story: Based on "The Giving Tree"

author: Shel Silverstein
re-created by: Ken and Yusef

Once there was a tree...

and she loved a little boy.

And the little boy would come everyday to play with her.

He would climb up her trunk, swing from her branches, eat apples, and play hide-and-go-seek.

And the boy loved the tree...very much, and the tree was happy.

But the time went by, the boy grew older.

The tree was often alone.

Then one day the boy said to the tree ‘I want to buy things and have fun, can I have some money?’

‘ I’m sorry, I have no money,’ said the tree, but you can sell my apples in the city, then you will have money and will be happy.

And the tree was happy.

But the boy stayed away for a long time...

‘i want a wife and i want children and so i need a house.’ The boy said to the tree.

‘i have no house, but you may cut off my branches and build a house. Then you will be happy.’

And the tree was happy.

But the boy stayed away for a long time...

‘i want a boat that will take me far away from here. Can you give me a boat?’ the boy asks the tree.

‘i have no boat, but you may cut down my trunk and make a boat. Then you can sail away and be happy.’

The boy stayed away for a long time...

‘i’m sorry boy, but i have nothing left to give you’ said by the tree.

‘i don’t need very much now, just a quiet place to sit and rest. I’m very tired.’

‘well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting. Come boy, sit down. Sit down and rest.

The end.

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inspiration for our project

The book describes a tree, abundant and giving. This tree serves the boy, providing him with everything it can for all its life, slowly deteriorating away.

The Giving Tree is always present, tall and strong in the boy's heart, but in reality the tree is dead and gone!