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Does the tale enshrine generosity, or does it warn readers about the dangers of self-sacrifice and dysfunctional relationships? Does it condone plundering the natural world, or does it offer a lesson about thoughtless extraction? In the face of warnings about climate catastrophe and the “ sixth extinction,” it reads less like an innocent childhood favorite, and more like a cautionary tale. More than half a century on, there’s a never-ending debate about the story’s meaning. Since its publication in 1964, The Giving Tree has sold more than 10 million copies. “And the tree was happy,” the book concludes. In the end, he returns as an old man and simply sits on the old stump, all that’s left of his childhood companion. The tree gives away its branches so the boy, now an adult, can build a house he later gets its permission to saw down the trunk and build a boat to sail far away.

Eventually, the boy comes back wanting money, so the tree offers him its apples to sell. But as the boy gets older, he outgrows climbing the tree, swinging on its branches, and munching on its apples, and the tree gets lonely in his absence. The children’s tale begins with a happy friendship between a boy and a tree. If you have warm, fuzzy memories of reading Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree growing up, re-reading the book might be a shock. This story is part of Grist’s Summer Dreams arts and culture series, a weeklong exploration of how popular fiction can influence our environmental reality.

The giving tree 1964