Embraced by many as a simple story about altruism while attacked by others as a cruel allegory about the selfless love of parents and the ingratitude of children--and seen by still others as a sexist attack on women--THE GIVING TREE tells the tale of a young boy and the tree who, literally, piece by piece, gives her life for him. Throughout the story, the tree (which is referred to by female pronouns) never hesitates to give the boy whatever he asks of her. At first she provides shade, then her fruit, next her branches, and finally her entire trunk. By the story`s end, the little boy is an old man who, after many years away, returns to the tree to use her last remaining piece--her stump--as a place to sit and rest. Illustrated with b&w line drawings.