how universal of an experience is having the giving tree read to you as a small child and being distraught even tho the teacher seemed to think it was a nice story. also is this a gendered phenomenon. do girlchildren know on some level that they’re the tree not the little boy
Children designated as “gifted and talented” frequently melt down because of this story. Boys and girls both. I’ve heard many G&T educators say they don’t bring The Giving Tree or The Rainbow Fish into their classrooms at all because of it.
Wow, what is it about gifted and talented kids that makes those stories hit them so hard?
Because those stories are innately about what to do with gifts and talents, and in the case of those particular books, children often interpret them as “give up all sense of self and bodily autonomy, and carve yourself to pieces to make other people like you.”
Here’s my friend unpacking The Rainbow Fish on the topic.
I was blissfully unaware of The Rainbow Fish until now, but I’ve detested The Giving Tree with every fiber of my being since about 1978, when I first read it and it was just totally infuriating because everybody else was like “But it’s such a beautiful story!” No, it’s really not.
Fuck the Giving Tree.
Never read the giving tree, it’s not a book I’ve ever coke across in the UK, but I hate the rainbow fish with a passion
