“And the tree was happy,” I read as I closed the book. When reading books aloud to kids, timing is
everything and I’m pretty sure I nailed this one. If you’ve never read, The Giving Tree,
you really are missing out. Not much to
look at. Sparse, pencil sketches. Just a handful of words and several of those
are repeated as a refrain, an eloquent, quiet mantra of sorts.
I have read this book to all age groups.
Kids usually recognize the selfless tree in others. Many connect the tree to a parent or
grandparent. I like to think that they
walk away from the book with a deeper sense of gratitude for the people in
their lives. Maybe not. Who knows?
Sometimes, older kids go a bit grander.
They see the tree as a Christ figure.
And, an even small group make the tree-wood-cross connection. Once, a child even took note of the wreath of
leaves the child makes in the story and made the comparison to Cesar. Again, a story so simple. Yet it works. Every time.
All ages.
After I finish my reading and after we run through all the thoughts and
connections, I hand the book to Erin.
“Here,” I smile. “I believe this
belongs to you.”
“No,” she says, confused. I look
at her, with an equally confused expression.
I open the book and hand it to her.
“Hmmm…It has a note written on the inside cover, addressed to you. It is definitely your book.” Erin smiles.
See, a few weeks back, Erin had mentioned The Giving Tree as
being her favorite book. She seems to
have a love/hate relationship with this title.
“I loved that book when I was little,” she explained. “I used to check it out all the time from the
library.”
“Do you own a copy?” I asked and
she laughed as if owning a book is an odd concept.
“No, it was a library book. And
when I would bring it home, I couldn’t get nobody to read it to me, but I kinda
figured it out anyways.”
Yeah. This seemed like a
no-brainer. Everybody needs to own a
copy of a favorite book. Really,
everybody needs a great many books, but a favorite title is a good place to
start. And, it feels like a chance to
right a wrong of sorts. A favorite book
gets checked out of the library all the time, yet no one read it to her. Books then become a source of pain. So?
Books and school become a source of pain to be avoided at all
costs. Maybe. Maybe not.
Maybe that’s just too neat. Too
easy. No matter. Owning a favorite book is still a fine place
to start. I thought quite a bit over my
note on the inside. Here’s what I came
up with:
Dear Erin,
Words matter. The words we speak. The words we sing. The words we read and write. Sadly though, when we read and write less and
less, our pool of words becomes smaller and smaller. Our vocabulary shrinks. In time, with fewer and fewer words, our
voices can become very small. That would
be a shame if it ever happened to you because you are smart and creative and
have a lot of important things to say. I
hope you feel the same way.
Will this have an impact? No clue.
But, for $12.95, it was worth a shot.
No harm done in being kind. The
truth is, with kids, I never know what will stick, and what won’t. Kids have returned to me years later, and
have thanked me for things I said that I honestly no longer remember
saying. I think it’s a Garrison Keillor
quote that says, “Nothing done for children is ever wasted.” I try to live by that one when I can.
A few days later, I notice that The Giving Tree is sticking out
of Erin’s backpack. It already looks
worn from use. Multiple readings, for
sure. And in this, the tree was greatly
pleased.
New Memoir, Jersey Boy, now available
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