One of the most divisive books in children's literature is Shell Silverstein's The Giving Tree,

the story of a dysfunctional relationship between a boy and a sentient apple tree who gives him

everything she had, from her apples and leaves to her branches and trunk until all that's left

is a stump.

Met as a parable of unconditional love, writer Tofer Payne thought our doomed pair needed a better

ending to their sad story and wrote The Tree Who Set Healthy Boundaries, where the tree learns

to say no and lives a long, happy life

because of it. Today, playwright and hallmark screenwriter Tofer Payne joins us to revisit The Giving

Tree and other classic children's books with questionable moral compasses, and to explore what

happens when we give these stories the therapy they clearly need.

Plus, Tofer takes us behind the scenes of his films with the Hallmark Channel, where the

snow is always falling, the cookies are always warm, and love is just one conveniently timed

misunderstanding away.

I'm Faustafurnos.

I'm Mark Fillion.

And this is Feast of Fun.

Before we begin, I want to read for you an excerpt of Tofer Paine's revised alternate ending to Shell Silverstein's The Giving Tree, titled The Tree Who Set Healthy Boundaries.

I am too busy to climb trees, said the boy.

I want a house to keep me warm.

He said, I want a wife.

I want children.

And so I need a house.

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