The Giving Tree is a children’s picture book written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein. First published in 1964 by Harper & Row, it has become one of Silverstein’s best known titles and has been translated into numerous languages. The book follows the life of a apple tree and a boy who are able to communicate with each other. In his childhood, the boy enjoys playing with the tree, climbing her trunk, swinging from her branches, and eating her apples. However, as time passes he starts to make requests of the tree, such as wanting money, a house, a boat.. In the final pages, the boy (now a shriveled old man) meets the tree once more. The tree sadly states she has nothing left to give, as her apples, branches, and trunk are gone and only a stump remains.. What more could the boy want? What more could the tree give?