To call the tree in this book "giving" is a bit of an understatement. In fact, a more accurate title for Shel Silverstein's most famous picture book might be The Sacrificing Stump.

Oops, sorry, spoiler alert.

That's right. By the end of the book, there's not a lot left of the eponymous tree, and that's one reason this tale has kept people debating its themes and symbolism for more than 50 years.

Originally published in 1964, The Giving Tree has been categorized as heartwarming, sexist, instructive, satirical, and horrifying…among other things. It tends to elicit strong reactions from readers, with most people either loving or hating the book, and very few falling in between those two extremes.

In the story, a tree who loves a boy gives up everything—her fruit, her limbs, her trunk—to make the boy happy. But he never is. Or is he?

The book's ending, as it turns out, is just as controversial as the rest of the story. Some people might be inclined to paint the final frame as a relatively happy conclusion or, at least, call the story bittersweet, but Silverstein himself saw the book as having a sad ending, which is part of the reason it took him four years to get it published (source).

Turns out Silverstein—like Maurice Sendak, another of our favorite picture book authors—wasn't a big fan of happy endings. Not even for kids' books. He found them unrealistic and thought that seeing everything turn out perfectly in the end gave kids a false sense of how life was supposed to be. As Silverstein put it, "The child asks, 'Why don't I have this happiness thing you're telling me about?' and comes to think when his joy stops that he has failed, that it won't come back" (source).

Interestingly enough, Silverstein and Sendak shared the same editor, Ursula Nordstrom, and it was Nordstrom that pushed to allow these defiers of the typical rules of children's books (kids that behave well, happy endings) to have their tales published as they were. And we're thankful she did.

You should be, too—even if you're one of the folks who gravitates toward the "hate it" end of the spectrum when it comes to The Giving Tree. Because love it or hate it, The Giving Tree is a book that will make you think. Who knows? It may even inspire you to debate its themes and symbolism…for another 50 years.

One word: levels.

People talk about levels all the time, especially when it comes to things like Pixar movies. It is often said that these animated extravaganzas appeal to people of all ages because they operate on multiple levels.

Okay. Sure. We agree with that. But if you really want to talk levels, you need to talk about The Giving Tree:

• Is it a bittersweet tale of the love between a tree and a boy?
• Is it a commentary on the complexity of human relationships?
• Is it a cautionary tale of humanity's insensitivity toward nature?
• Is it a heartwarming story of the unique bond between a parent and a child?
• Is it a warning about the hazards of codependency?

Yes. The Giving Tree is all these things…and more.

But, wait, you might say. How is that possible? We already told you. It's about levels. Shel Silverstein packs this book full of them.

Depending on how you read the book and how deeply you want to analyze it, The Giving Tree can be everything from a tender tale you remember fondly from your childhood to a disturbing chronicle of a dysfunctional, abusive relationship. And that's why you should care about this one. It's not every children's picture book that becomes the subject of an article on shared responsibility in the Michigan Law Review or fodder for years of literary analysis.

So, get in there and carve this story up. Is the tree just a tree? Is the boy just a boy? Or is there a lot more going on in this tale? It's up to you to decide.