This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, and we tell stories about everything here on this show.

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do a lot, do your part, and thanks so much ahead of time because we've gotten so much support

from so many listeners. And now on to a regular feature with author Winter Prasapio. This story

is about the lessons that Winter learned from the book, The Giving Tree.

I thought I had hidden it well enough.

I shoved it in the back of the bookcase,

and it had been successfully out of sight for nearly two years.

But they have no compunction about such things at the library.

These disturbing works of literature are

just out on the shelves within reach of the youngest patrons. The bright green cover seized

my daughter's attention and before I knew it we were checking it out. The Giving Tree was back.

I have always hated the Giving Tree. This classic book by Shel Silverstein is about a little

boy who grows into an old man taking and taking and taking from an apple tree. First he takes the

apples to pick up some cash, then he cuts down the giving tree's branches for a house. Then whack.

Down goes the trunk for a boat and the giving tree is nothing but a stump, which he comes back

later and sits on for a rest. And the misogynistic creep never once uttered a single word of

gratitude. And yet, at every turn, the giving tree is happy. I say that

is clearly a tree in need of some serious therapy, and that boy is in need of some hardcore

sensitivity training. As a mother, there are many days where I feel like I am the giving tree. I spend my day running

...