The Giving Tree

On my last visit to the local bookstore, I picked up a book from the shelf marked 'Inspirational'.  

Hardbound, green in color with a sketch of a tree, apple and a child on the cover - looked more like a children's picture book. But why was it in the 'Inspirational' shelf ? I wondered.

I settled down with the book in one of the many 'moorahs' that careless lie around in the store.Reading it did not take much time. But I did sit there for quite sometime contemplating... questioning our attitude towards Mother Earth, our  short sightedness and our unending ' I want's..

What a wonderful way of telling the children and at the same time, reminding us adults to love and take care of our beautiful Mother Earth.

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein 

Quoting a few paragraphs from the book :

"Once there was a tree…… And she loved a little boy. And every day the boy would come And he would gather her leaves And make them into crowns and play king of the forest. He would climb up her trunk And swing from her branches And when he was tired,he would sleep in her shade.

And the boy loved the tree…..Very much..And the tree was happy."

As time went by the boy grew older and his visits  and love for the tree grew less. He no longer played on the tree branches, he started to WANT...fruits to sell, branches to make house and so on...

Finally,

"And after a long time the boy came back again.–“I am sorry, Boy,”said the tree, “but I have nothing left to give you— My apples are gone.” –“My teeth are too weak for apple,”said the boy.–“My branches are gone,” said the tree.”You cannot swing on them—”–"I am too old to swing on branches” said the boy. –“My trunk is gone,” said the tree.“You cannot climb—-” –”I am too tired to climb,” said the boy.–“I am sorry” sighed the tree. “I wish that I could give you something… but I have nothing left. I am just an old stump.

I am sorry…” –”I don’t need very much now” said the boy. “just a quiet place to sit and rest. I am very tired” –“Well” said the tree, straightening herself up as much as she could, “well, an old stump is good for sitting and resting. Come, Boy, sit down…and rest.”

Add this wonderful, thought provoking book to your 'Must Read ' list ...Spread the word ...

The actual 1973 'Giving Tree' movie  in the voice of Shel Silverstein is   available on youtube.

The book is available in Flipkart, India as well.

Age group :  can be read to kids as young as  3 years, revisit when they can read on their own again, read it whenever you need to stress on"  recycle, reduce and reuse" mantra.

For more , read The Giving Tree - Wikipedia.

Harold and the Purple Crayon

Is your little one in love ♥ ♥ ♥ with crayons ?

Are the walls of your house, now, canvas for your budding artist ?

Does your little one have a favorite color ?........G-E-R-EEE-N or BU-LOOO...

Harold loves his Purple Crayon. One evening he decides to go for a walk in the moon light. He draws anything that he thinks 'needs to happen' with his Purple Crayon.

He draws the moon and a straight road to follow and sets off on his adventurous journey.  He draws  what he desires and sometimes falls in difficult situations. He is a smart child and  draws his way out. When Harold found himself drowning in the ocean, he quickly drew a boat, climbed on it and sailed off.

He comes across a forest, is frightened by a dragon,  enjoys a picnic on the beach and has many more adventures before he returns home and falls asleep.

This book is a wonderful way of exploring the powers of imagination, quick thinking and perseverance. It encourages the child to think creatively when faced with problems.

Age Group : Early readers, 4 to 6 years

After reading the book, there are a lot of parent- child activities that you can do with your child.

• When you are stuck in the traffic, next time, you can ask your child what Harold would draw to help  you out of the situation. Hopefully,  you can  avoid the usual - "why is the car not moving, Mom ????" question  by doing this :)
• On a big drawing paper both of you can take turns to draw. Say, you draw a mountain,"It is the highest mountain in the world". Your child adds some more details.He draws a boy with a bag pack "This is me, I want to climb it".  Go on and spin an amazing story together !!!

What is your child's favorite color ?

Llama Llama Misses Mama

First day of School is an important day in the life of our little ones. As parents we go through a mix of emotions - will he cry? will he miss me? will the teachers understand what he wants to say?...For the child, I think ,initially, he is more interested in the paraphernalia - new school bag, snack box and water bottle. The concept of school hits him once he has to leave his parents and walk into the school without Mama or Papa.

The challenge begins the next morning - refusing to get dressed for school, crying as soon as the car parks near the school gate, clinging to Mama/Papa as the teacher tries to take him in....

To beat the 'First Time to School' blues try Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney. It is available in Amazon in all forms - Kindle, hardcover, paperback, audio CD and audible book.

 But I found it in a wonderful site We Give Books all for free !!!

The book is about a Llama's first day at school. His Mama wakes him up, gets him ready and rushes to school as they are getting late.( something that happens in my home almost every morning) At school he is introduced to his new teacher and new friends and soon it's time to kiss Mama Goodbye.