Past | Present | Absent

Past, present, and future are fundamental to how we understand time, change, and our lives.

How do we work with the past, present, and future for developing a working system of knowledge?

Using simple language and beautiful photographs, Past | Present | Future helps readers discover how we experience and describe different times. Through familiar examples-from clocks, childhood photographs, homes, reading, eating, sleeping cats, and ocean waves-readers learn to distinguish the past, the present, and the future.

Along the way, readers discover that the present includes now and the time we generally think of as now, the past happened before the present, and the future happens after the present. They also learn that language changes depending upon when something happens, that we remember the past, experience the present, and imagine the future-and that because things change over time, we talk about the past, the present, and the future.

Past | Present | Future is part of the Place of Understanding® Series, which introduces the foundational ideas from which knowledge is built. The books intentionally use simple words and compelling photographs because understanding grows from simple ideas. They are designed to support curious readers across a wide age range as they develop clear thinking and a deeper appreciation for how knowledge is organized.