I added this book to read in 2016, based upon the high ratings it was showing here, and people lauding it like nothing else. I never knew what was inside. I thought it would be a gripping tale depicting the benevolence of nature to humankind. I also foretold, looking at the picture of the cover of this book and reading the blurb that it must be for the children.

And a few days back when I caught hold of this slender book and flipped it over, and read the 60 percent of the book in the next 2 minutes I said to myself,

“My goodness! what chumps we are! We get carried away too easily on these ratings.”

“I hate lizards.” said my friend at whose home I found the copy of this book, seeing a lizard sneaking her way into his garden wall.

“They jar upon me” He looked vexed saying this.

I smiled at him and read the next 40 percent of the book in the next 3 minutes. The book was finished in 5 minutes. Those who have never opened this book must be thinking that I am a superhuman to finish a book in 5 minutes! After I finished, I wanted to talk to my friend. My eyes searched for him outside in the garden. He was not there. I looked into the other room from a distance and he was busy watching the Discovery channel. I did not disturb him. I looked for the lizard on the garden wall. It had also disappeared.

I came back into my room and flipped over the book yet again. This time for the next 10 minutes, I only looked into those illustrations on every page.

That image of a tree full of leaves.
That image of a running small boy coming near the tree.
That image of a little boy gathering the leaves and making a crown.
That image of a little boy thinking himself the king of the forest.
That image of a little boy climbing up on the tree like a monkey.
That image of a little boy swinging from its branches.
That image of a little boy playing hide and seek and then sleeping in its shade.

The Time passes by. (There was no illustration of the passing of time. Nobody can make an image of the passing of time So did the author!)

Then I looked again scrupulously on further illustrations.

That image of a young boy with a new desire.
That image of a man with another desire.
That image of an old man with another desire.
That image of the oldest man with another desire.
And Finally, I saw the Image of the Tree on the final page.

All this endeavor of seeing those illustrations took me 10 minutes. To be precise as I told you earlier. Exactly double the amount of time I took in reading the text. A total of 15 minutes is dedicated to the Giving Tree.

And

I just noticed that in the beginning there was A BABY BOY and AN ELDERLY TREE.

AND THE TREE WAS HAPPY.

In the end, there was A BABY TREE and AN ELDERLY BOY.

AND THE TREE WAS HAPPY.

I got the message.
I understood where this book has touched the masses that it became so popular.

“How I misjudged you,” I said to myself closing the green back-cover of the book.

I looked at the garden wall. The lizard had come there again.

“We all make mistakes.”, that lizard seemed to say this to me staring at me through her pineal eyes.

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