Our first Video of the Week is The Giving Tree, an animated adaptation of the classic Shel Silverstein book.

This video was the first OLLIE project that I ever worked on, as well as my first foray into animation.  Thankfully, the students at New Avenues for Youth were so motivated and enthusiastic, that I didn't have to do much but teach them the basics and let them go.

The art is terrific, the animation is subtle yet effective, and I think that the students perfectly captured the bittersweet tone of the book. Two and a half years later, this is still one of my favorite OLLIE videos.  Big props to all the students involved!