The Giving Tree is a tale of unconditional love. The boy takes and takes from the tree without ever saying thank you, but the tree never seems to mind and is always willing to give more without a second thought. This book can help children of all ages understand the importance of being thankful and appreciative of what they have no matter how small. 

A great activity to go along with this book is to have students write a letter to the person, place or thing that gives them unconditional love. It can be a family member, friend, animal or toy it will completely be their choice. 

Another great message in this book is the environmental issue. The boy takes from the tree until there is nothing left but a stomp. This what we as humans do to the earth, we take from it without giving anything back sometimes. I would incorporate this book into "Green Week" and have students come up with ways we can give back to the earth. Depending on the grade level they could draw, write or use technology to display their ideas.

Lexile 530L

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What is Unconditional Love?

Unconditional Love and Happiness

Our philosophers, our poets, our scientists, tell us that the formula of our Universe is Love, governed by Venus. She combines the highest spiritual with the lowest material qualities - Love materialized on Earth.  She is born in water, from mud, and she bears the lotus.  Her mystical mantra is: ‘Love is the law, but Love controlled by Will’...

Read more in Nataša Pantović Publisher Blog http://artof4elements.com/entry/51/what-is-unconditional-love

This book is about a boy and his relationship with a talking tree. The tree gives everything she can to the boy in order to make him happy. The extent that the tree goes through to achieve this goal is what intentionally shocked me. The plot showed the book moral in a very unique way that really sticks to the reader. It teaches about unconditional love a parent may have for their child, which is a wonderful thing to teach and learn about. It would be great to use in a lesson about something being unconditional. This book would also be great in demonstrating time progression due to the fact that the boy ages throughout the story. For instance, at the end of the story the boy is no longer a child but an old man. Despite the fact that the character was now old, the character is still referred to as "boy" or "the boy." This really reinforces the fact that the character is still the same person despite appearances. Thus, time progression. The lexile level is 530L so students should be around the 2nd grade for independent reading.

Our philosophers, our poets, our scientists, tell us that the formula of our Universe is Love, governed by Venus. She combines the highest spiritual with the lowest material qualities - Love materialised on Earth.  She is born in water, from mud, and she bears the lotus.  Her mystical mantra is: ‘Love is the law, but Love controlled by Will’.