The ingenious book
The Phantom Tollbooth is filled with little
cunundrums and happenstances that demonstrate various aspects of everyday reality to prove a point.
Anyway, one such thingie is a boy
Milo comes across who stands in midair at about Milo's waistline. He explains to Milo that rather than growing "up", his kind grow "down" as they get older, until their feet eventually reach the ground.
Milo soon realizes the unfortunate reality of such a life; the fact that the boy's head is at the same height all his life means his point of view never changes. Although he first envied this boy he came to pity him because he learns that never being able to change one's 'point of view' causes such limitations to a person's ability to
experience and understand life as they grow.