The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein begins with an apple tree. The tree loved a small Boy and the Boy loved the tree too. He would often come to play with the tree. The Boy would “gather her leaves,” “climb up her trunk” and “swing from her branches.” The Boy spent a lot of time with the tree. The tree would give the Boy shade while he ate her apples. They had a lot of fun together and they were both very happy.
But time went by and the Boy started growing up. He visited the tree less and less as he grew older and the tree grew very lonely and sad. After a while the Boy came back. The tree wanted to be happy with the Boy again but the Boy wasn't there to play. The Boy wanted to make money. The tree wanted to make the Boy happy so she gave him all her apples to sell.
More time passed and finally the Boy came back again. He wanted to build a house so the tree gave him all her branches. The tree didn't have much more to give but still tried. The Boy came back and wanted a boat to sail away so the tree gave him her trunk and told him to build a boat out of it. Every time the tree gave something to the boy she felt happy. So she continued to give.
Much later the Boy came back. The Boy was now very old and didn't need much, yet the tree still wished she could give him something. At this point the tree had almost nothing. She was just an old stump in a forest. The tree offered her stump as a chair for the Boy. The boy was happy. And so was the tree.
