The Giving Tree Resources

Shel Silverstein's website features videos, ecards, wallpaper, information about Shel and his books, and even some printables.

The Central Rappahannock Regional Library (CRRL for short) has a nice Shel Silverstein page featuring some biographical information, links, and covers for many of his books.

That's right, way back in the 1970s, Stephen Bosustow Productions created an animated short of Silverstein's story. It was the '70s so the animation is crude—no CGI here—but you can enjoy Shel Silverstein's voice-over and some nice harmonica music while you watch.

This eight-minute short is a live action film with a cast of five: four people play the boy at different ages, and one person plays the mysterious Y.L. behind that second set of initials.

In 2015, Etharin Cousin of the United Nations World Food Programme wrote an article for the Michigan Law Review called "The Giving Tree: A Modern-Day Parable of Mutual Responsibility." And you thought it was just a children's book.

According to Lydia Hutchinson, Shel Silverstein wanted everything out of life. That could explain why, in addition to authoring all those children's books and poems, he wrote musical scores, plays, cartoons, and hundreds of songs.

That's just one of the interesting facts you can learn about Shel Silverstein from this 1975 interview with Publishers Weekly.

This 1978 New York Times interview offers a look at how Silverstein viewed his work, his life, and the world when he was just shy of 50.

In Oakland, California, someone created a tribute to Silverstein's most famous book by writing a message on a tree stump. When a picture of the stump was posted on social media, it went viral.

This brief review of The Giving Tree by Common Sense Media quickly hits on the complexity of the tale.

Elissa Strauss offers an interpretation of The Giving Tree and the relationship between its main characters based on the premise that "The Giving Tree is not actually a happy book about giving, but a meditation on longing and the passing of time." Seeing as how Silverstein wasn't a big fan of shiny, happy endings, we think she might be on to something.

Writing for The New York Times Book Review, two writers offer differing assessments of The Giving Tree. Anna Holmes gives a searing indictment of the book on its 50th anniversary, while Rivka Galchen praises it for its tender complexity.

Ruth Margalit considers The Giving Tree on its 50th anniversary while also offering some interesting biographical information about Shel Silverstein.

Watch The Giving Tree come to life in this animated version of the picture book. Shel Silverstein narrates. We're not sure who's responsible for the harmonica music.

Yep, even American rock bands are moved by The Giving Tree. In their song of the same name, Plain White T's asks, "If all you wanted was love, why would you use me up, cut me down, build a boat, and sail away?" Good question, Plain White T's. Good question.

You bet. Prolific songwriter that he was, Silverstein had friends in the business. Following his death, two of them decided to create an album in his memory. It features several of Silverstein's songs covered by folks like Lucinda Williams and Andrew Bird.

NPR's Melissa Block considers the work of the multitalented author upon the release of a CD of his poems and songs along with the book Runny Babbit, which was published posthumously.

Here's a fun picture of Shel kicking back in his rocker with his axe.

This photo of Shel Silverstein was taken by Larry Moyer.

Seymour Linden took this picture of a young Shel (look, he still has hair!) reading to some of his fans.