--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I don't think that children, if left to…" description: "\"I don't think that children, if left to themselves, feel that there is an author behind a book, a somebody who wrote it. Grown-ups have fostered this q..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/790/p-l-travers-18631_behinds_i-don-t-think-that-children-if-left-to-t_186934.png" --- # I don't think that children, if left to themselves, feel… ![“I don't think that children, if left to themselves, feel that there is an author behind a book, a somebody who wrote it. Grown-ups have fostered this quotient of identity, particularly teachers. Write a letter to your favorite author and so forth. When I was a child I never realized that there…” quote by P. L. Travers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/790/p-l-travers-18631_behinds_i-don-t-think-that-children-if-left-to-t_186934.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/790/p-l-travers-18631_behinds_i-don-t-think-that-children-if-left-to-t_186934.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/790/p-l-travers-18631_behinds_i-don-t-think-that-children-if-left-to-t_186934.png) > “I don't think that children, if left to themselves, feel that there is an author behind a book, a somebody who wrote it. Grown-ups have fostered this quotient of identity, particularly teachers. Write a letter to your favorite author and so forth. When I was a child I never realized that there were authors behind books. Books were there as living things, with identities of their own.” [P. L. Travers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-l-travers/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Children often lack awareness of authorship, seeing books as living entities, while adults teach the concept of an author. **In simple terms:** Kids see books as alive, not made by people. Key Takeaway Teach children about creators and storytelling. Themes education literacy identity Mood thoughtful curious Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - reading - creative writing - teaching - parenting Key Concepts authorship imagination Questions to Reflect On - How does knowing an author change your reading? - Can stories still be meaningful without author awareness? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on author may diminish personal connection to text. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Living things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-things/) [Teacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teacher/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“The banal advice of writ in teachers is "write what you know," but the truth is, you don't know a place until you write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phyllis-rose/the-banal-advice-of-writ-in-teachers-is-write-what-you-know-but-the/) [Phyllis Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phyllis-rose/) > [“Years ago I conducted a course in fiction writing at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, and we wanted such distinguished and busy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-carnegie/years-ago-i-conducted-a-course-in-fiction-writing-at-the-brooklyn/) [Dale Carnegie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-carnegie/) > [When I read a novel that I really like, I feel as if I am in direct, personal communication with the author. I feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/when-i-read-a-novel-that-i-really-like-i-feel-as-if-i-am-in-direct/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [I'm beginning to feel that no author has the right to tear his characters apart if he doesn't know how, or feel that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-beginning-to-feel-that-no-author-has-the-right-to-tear-his/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“You never know if a book is going to succeed or fail, so what matters ultimately is how you feel about it and whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-hannah/you-never-know-if-a-book-is-going-to-succeed-or-fail-so-what-matters/) [Kristin Hannah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-hannah/) > [If you feel that there's the author and then the character, then the book is not working. People have a habit of identifying the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/if-you-feel-that-there-s-the-author-and-then-the-character-then-the/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [I always feel that as the author, once I know what a character is ashamed of, then I can go about making her truthful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-mohr/i-always-feel-that-as-the-author-once-i-know-what-a-character-is/) [Joshua Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-mohr/) > [“We really learn only from those books that we cannot judge. 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Nobody's going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-b-truant/nobody-s-going-to-give-you-the-gift-of-awesome-nobody-s-going-to-make/) [Johnny B. Truant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-b-truant/) > [When I was in my teens, I was very, very keen on being the author of a book. What the book was was secondary.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/when-i-was-in-my-teens-i-was-very-very-keen-on-being-the-author-of-a/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) ## More by P. L. Travers > [What I want to know is this: Are the stars gold paper or is the gold paper stars?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-l-travers/what-i-want-to-know-is-this-are-the-stars-gold-paper-or-is-the-gold/) [P. L. Travers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-l-travers/) > [More and more I’ve become convinced that the great treasure to possess is the unknown.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-l-travers/more-and-more-i-ve-become-convinced-that-the-great-treasure-to/) [P. L. Travers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-l-travers/) > [I think the idea of 'Mary Poppins' has been blowing in and out of me, like a curtain at a window, all my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-l-travers/i-think-the-idea-of-mary-poppins-has-been-blowing-in-and-out-of-me/) [P. L. Travers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-l-travers/) > [Sorrow lies like a heartbeat behind everything I have written.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-l-travers/sorrow-lies-like-a-heartbeat-behind-everything-i-have-written/) [P. L. Travers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-l-travers/) > [Stories are like birds flying, here and gone in a moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-l-travers/stories-are-like-birds-flying-here-and-gone-in-a-moment/) [P. L. 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