The Giving Tree

With the holiday season here there is much talk of giving and receiving.  I wanted to focus on the lesson of giving to others and being thankful for what we have been given so The Giving Tree came to mind.  This classic book does cover the bases of giving to others and being selfless.  I read it with my daughters (again) and we came up with a craft to go with the book that I'll share with you.

This is a book that I'm sure you have read as a child, and now you have probably read to your own children.  If you haven't, then you are missing out of a wonderful heartfelt story, but don't take my word for it alone, The Giving Tree has made the list for Top 100  All Time Best Classic Literature for Children and Young Adults, 50 All-Time Favorite Children's Books, and at the top of the list for 27 Books Parents Should Read to Their Kids Before They Grow Up.  

So what is it about this book that makes it stand up to the test of time?  

I think it's that no matter the age you are when you read it it's going to pull at some part of your heart.  The book has the wants, needs, and desires we all have as we grow in life.  When we are children we are content with what we have around us, but as we grow we want more, friends, money, a house, love, to travel, and then we again become content to just have what we have around us and just be.  

Maybe it's the lessons that can be taken from the book?  Unlike most children's books where there's one strong lesson, The Giving Tree is unique in that you can find a different lesson in the story each time you read it.  There's a lesson of all that trees give us (air, food, shelter) and we just take from them.  There's a lesson to be grateful for what you have, as the boy grows he's not happy with what he has but thinks the next step will make him happy.  Unconditional love is huge in the story, it's of giving all of yourself to someone else and receiving nothing back.   As a parent you understand this.  It grips your heart because you can relate so much to the tree just wanting the child to be happy.

Another thing that helps this book stand the test of time might be the simplicity of the illustrations and the spacing of the sentences.  I'm a huge fan of bright illustrations that capture the attention of kids and adults, but the lack of color and background details in Shel Silverstein's drawings make the relationship between the boy and the tree the sole focus.  There are no distractions. It is just the boy and the tree.  The illustrations and text pop on the white page, and it's easy to read.  The spacing of the text makes the story build as you turn the pages and pulls the reader in with each event.  I find that the illustrations done the way they are allows the reader to use their imagination to picture themselves with a tree.  We all probably have a tree we use to climb as a child, or sit under so having less details on where the tree is allows you to put that tree in your own setting.

I love the emotional depth in The Giving Tree.  The text only uses a couple emotional words but there's more that is implied.   As you read ask your child  how they think the tree feels.  Ask them how they'd feel having been in need/want of something and someone giving them what they needed.  Have conversations around these emotions.  As I said earlier this is a wonderful book even for older children; read the book and have them write a journal response on how they felt, or how they would feel as the tree.  Or to tell of a time they gave to someone knowing they were helping and would not get anything back.
As you are talking to younger children they might respond with just "happy" or "sad" you can expand their vocabulary and empathy by giving them more emotional words.   I think the tree might be curious at to where the boy has gone, and maybe a bit envious that he can travel the world while the tree can only stay in one place.  I think the boy is greedy for only coming to the tree when he's in need of something. 

After talking about the book, and reading it together a good activity that you can do with children of any age is to list things they are grateful for.  This year for Thanksgiving we made a poster around this idea of a giving tree that the leaves say all the things that we could think of that others have given us, and at the bottom we made hand turkeys that said the things we were thankful for.

So thankful for the people who have come into our lives and for all we have been given sometimes it's small thing that make a big difference.  A candy bar when you're feeling down.  The pets we have either been given or adopted.  A random stranger bought my daughter and I concert tickets to see who is now her favorite band.  That's something she'll remember forever and an experience I couldn't have given her at that time.  My family added us to their Netflix account and a friend gave me her audiobook account so we could watch shows and listen to books that otherwise we would have gone without.  Words of love, support, and encouragement mean the world to us, knowing that you have someone who believes in you really does make a difference.  

You can make your own Giving Tree in your house or classroom where you add leaves to it each time you catch a student spreading kindness to another child (giving them a crayon, helping pick up toys, and so on)  or add leaves for when you feel grateful for something you have.  This is a great way to see how blessed you are, how you have been helped and how you help others.



Random Acts of Kindness can be linked to this book, with how you can help someone else, like the tree helping the boy.  Think of ways you can help someone as a family or separately.  This time of year money is always tight so it doesn't have to cost anything.  Maybe you have a neighbor that you or your kids could shovel their walkway when it snows so they don't have to.  Maybe there's family that just had a baby, you can make a double batch of your dinner and take them one over so they don't have to cook one night.  Donate your used toys, books, and clothes.  If you know of a family that is having a hard time and can use that warp it and leave it on their porch.  Write a card or color a picture to send to someone, or visit and just spend time with those who might be alone.  You don't have to have money to give joy to others, and I think we see that in The Giving Tree, just a smile, a kind word, or helping hand can mean the world to someone.

I hope you all have a warm winter, and Happy Holidays!  

If you didn't click the links or you want more info check out these websites:
Teaching empathy: Evidence-based tips for fostering empathy in children
22 Benefits of Trees
7 Crucial Reasons Why Gratitude Can Change Your Life
How to Appreciate What You Have and Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
103 Random Acts of Kindness – Ideas to Inspire Kindness
randomactsofkindness.org/kindness-ideas

My Cousin MoMo

The 2018 Pennsylvania One Book, Every Young Child is My Cousin Momo by Zachariah OHora


So what is Pennsylvania One Book?  Direct quote taken off the back cover of my book is a program that "encourages adults to read daily to the young children in their lives and to engage children in conversations and experiences around the story and illustrations."

I love this.  Each year they pick a new book and many of the preschools, and libraries have the book, do story times, meet the author, and have special activities.  The whole point is to bring about more reading to children, get them excited and relating to books.  I know Pennsylvania isn't the only state to do this so check your state to see if they have a "One Book"  if you want more information about this program,  and about the author check out their site www.paonebook.org

Zachariah OHora has gotten the PA One Book before, in 2012 with his book Stop Snoring, Bernard!.  He clearly is a great story teller for small kids. My Cousin MoMo originally came out in 2015 and from talking to librarians it was already a well liked book and everyone was excited to talk about MoMo.

The story is about MoMo who comes for a visit, he's a bit shy at first and has his own way of doing things.  His cousins make him feel weird for being different and feeling like they don't want him there.  Then when they realized how they hurt MoMo's feelings they try things his way and they all have a great time.

Photo take by my 5yr old

The book is super easy to read, each page only has one or two short sentences.  It's easy to keep the attention of younger kids.  Wednesday I got to go into my daughter's Head Start and read this book to two groups of preschoolers.  Now I love curling up and reading to my daughter but it was so much fun reading to a large group of 3-5 year olds.  I had them "help" me read by filling in the blanks, predicting what would happen, and telling me the emotions they saw.  I started off asking them if they liked the book to put their hands on their head.  Then I'd say "My Cousin ...." they all yelled "MoMo." It was adorable.  One little boy even told me the author!  It was so much fun reading to the class.


The illustrations are also my Mr OHora and are colorful, large, and engaging.  They tell just as much of the story as the text does.

Part of the PA One Book program is to engage in conversation and activities about and around the book.  My Cousin MoMo offers so much to talk about as you're reading the book, emotions, where do they live, what did they find while playing hide and seek, have you ever felt like MoMo did, and so on.  But the learning and lessons don't end once the book is finish.  We watched videos about flying squirrels.  Part of my daughter's homework was to make a squirrel out of a paper bag and use whatever we wanted to make it unique.  My older daughter thought that was fun so we made a family night out of this with each of them making their own squirrel and I had my older daughter make up a story to go with hers that we talked about over diner.  It was a neat being in the school and seeing how different each squirrel was.  You can go out and play hide and seek MoMo style (which being a fan of hiking and photography I love MoMo's way!)  You can talk about cousins, how is a cousin related to you? Family tree.  How many cousins do you have, and where are they from?  The best part of these activites? They don't require anything you don't have already.  You can make up your how superhero too!  MoMo was Muffin Man.  What does Muffin Man do? Have kids tell a story about Muffin Man.

While at the school I also joined in a game with the kids. The game taught them to take turns, collect different color acorns and try to be the first to fill their log.  It was cute and would make a cute additional game to go with this book if you're interested you can find it here:

The Bottom Line: 

The Story: Was simple, engaging, and had depth.

The Illustrations:  Colorful, and aided the text.

The Lesson: Be Kind to one another, try new things, and it's okay to be different

In the comments tell me something you and your kids tried after reading My 

Cousin MoMo.

On a side note, my daughter dressed up as a superhero and I had to share.  She is Aqua Girl, with the power to make rain for grass to grow, and shoot rainbows from her eyes.   

I Love You More Than Rainbows

My kids love holidays...all occasions to celebrate anything.  So with Valentine's Day this week they read and reviewed I Love You More Than Rainbows by Susan E. Crites.  It's not necessarily a Valentine's Day book but it does talk about loving people more than objects and makes a great point.

Before I go into my review let me give you the details:

                                           Written by: Susan E. Crites

                                           Illustrated by Mark and Rosemary Jarman

                                           Published in Nashville, Tennessee by Tommy Nelson Jan 2008

                                           Copywrite: 2007

                                           Format: board book (link above), also available in hardcover

This is another great used book find that I picked up when my youngest daughter was 2 because it was a colorful board book and has been well read in our house.  On Amazon it says this book is for children aged 5-6 but again I want to argue with this.  I started reading this to my 2 year old daughter and it was immediately a favorite that she'd ask for over and over again.  We'd cuddle up on the couch and I'd read aloud how much I loved her.  It was such a sweet bonding time we had together.  I would say get it for your babies and enjoy it for many years, when they learn to read they can read it to you telling you they love you more than all their favorite things.

I love the message that Susan E. Crites sends to children in this book.  We can like and enjoy many experiences but we love each other more than that.  To take a couple quotes from her book:

"I love you more than a candy store filled with all your favorite treats."

That sends a very clear message to children.  No matter what there is in the world I love you more.
Crites did a wonderful job coming up with so many different things that people say we love, and showing that we love our kids and each other more.

"I love you more than the fun you have when you make lots of noise!"

The illustrations are wonderful throughout the whole book.  Each page transports the readers to a new place, new season, and new adventure that children enjoy doing.

This book can be used for any holiday that you talk about loving someone else, it would make a great lesson for libraries, preschool through first grade.  Valentine's day you can talk about friendship being more important than favorite food, toys, or activities and how we love our friends more and what we love to do with our friends.  It would also work for Mother's and Father's Day as well.  Here are some examples:

To make these they can be as simple as you need just using construction paper and writing the note, or to give more of a gift attach a favorite candy bar, or cookies in a jar to make together.  Use your imagination and create something special.


The lesson learned from this book is so valuable.  I reference the book all the time, when the kids are fighting over who ate the last (in today's case) mint, or used special markers or stickers.  These are big deals in our house.  I have to sit each child down and explain how the object that is gone is only a thing and can be replaced, the important thing is that they love each other more than anything, and that I love them even more.

The Bottom Line: A Valuable Lesson and Wonderful Book

The Illustrations: are fun, vibrant, attention grabbing, and aid the story

The Story Line: is easy, fun, and entertaining to read

Make sure you tell the ones you love how much you love them!