The Giving Tree

           To say that this particular apple tree is a "giving tree" is an understatement. In Shel Silverstein's popular tale of few words and simple line drawings, a tree starts out as a leafy playground, shade provider, and apple bearer for a rambunctious little boy. Making the boy happy makes the tree happy, but with time it becomes more challenging for the generous tree to meet his needs. When he asks for money, she suggests that he sell her apples. When he asks for a house, she offers her branches for lumber. When the boy is old, too old and sad to play in the tree, he asks the tree for a boat. She suggests that he cut her down to a stump so he can craft a boat out of her trunk. He unthinkingly does it. At this point in the story, the double-page spread shows a pathetic solitary stump, poignantly cut down to the heart the boy once carved into the tree as a child that said "M.E. + T." "And then the tree was happy... but not really." When there's nothing left of her, the boy returns again as an old man, needing a quiet place to sit and rest. The stump offers up her services, and he sits on it. "And the tree was happy." While the message of this book is unclear (Take and take and take? Give and give and give? Complete self-sacrifice is good? Complete self-sacrifice is infinitely sad?), Silverstein has perhaps deliberately left the book open to interpretation.

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Why Read to My Baby?

You May wonder about the benefits of reading to your baby. An infant Will not understandable everything you're doing or why. But You Would not wait Until your child understandable Could What You Were Saying before you started speaking to her or heaven, right? And you Would not bypass Lullabies Until Your Baby Could carry a tune or wait Until he or she Could Shake a rattle before you offered Any toys.


           Reading aloud to your baby is a wonderful shared activity You Can continue for years to come - and it's an important form of stimulation.
Reading aloud:

    * Teaches a baby about communication
    * Such concepts were introduced as stories, numbers, letters, colors, and shapes in a fun way
    * Builds listening, memory, and vocabulary skills
    * Gives babies information about The World Around Them

Believe it or Not, by the time babies reach Their first birthday They Will Have Learned All The Sounds Needed to Speak Their native language. The more stories you read aloud, the more words your child Will Be Exposed to and The Better he or she Will Be variable to talk. Hearing words Helps to build a rich network of words in a baby's brain. Kids Whose Parents frequently talk / read to Them know more words by age two children WHO Than Have Been note to read. And Who Are kids to read During Their early years are more likely be to learn to read at the right time.
When reading, your child Hear You Using Many Different Expressive emotions and sounds, Which unborn child social and emotional development. Reading "also invites your baby to look, Point, touch, and answer questions - all of Which Promote Social Development and Thinking Skills. And your baby improver language skills by imitating sounds, recognizing pictures, and learning words.