In no particular order: I am a devoted peaceful attachment mother of three, alternative medicine advocate, raw food loving, juicing enthusiast, Intactivist, babywearing, Earth loving hippy, Lactivist, altruistically trying to save the world from itself. 
Summer begins in the Northern Hemisphere on June 20, 2012, at 7:09 P.M. (EDT). This post is a bit early but it gives time to prepare crafts and celebrations.
Then followed that beautiful season… Summer….Filled was the air with a
dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the
freshness of childhood.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Like I’ve mentioned on previous posts, I like to put books away and only get them out during their special time of year. It makes my children real excited to see them again and it creates tradition that way too. Since summer is growing near, (pretty much here where I live) it’s time to dig my summer books out of the garage and bring them in while putting the spring books away.
The word Solstice is derived from a combination of latin words meaning “sun” and “to stand still.” As the days lengthen, the sun rises higher and higher until it appears to stand still in the sky. The Summer Solstice is a major celestial event. It results in the longest day and the shortest night of the year. The Northern Hemisphere celebrates in June, but the people in the Southern half of the Earth have their longest day in December when the Northern hemisphere has it’s shortest day.
The sun has been celebrated for centuries across many civilizations. One of my favorite books for children to learn about the Summer Solstice is The Longest Day. I also like The Summer Solstice. They both cover customs celebrated by other cultures and countries as well as describe the why the day is so long. I love the artwork in both books, so full of summer inspiration and excitement. The Longest Day is a bit more detailed.
Both books offer fun craft ideas at the end as well.
I love books that have illustrations and descriptions of nature. Another favorite is Peter in Blueberry Land by Elsa Beskow. If you aren’t familiar with Elsa Beskow’s books, they are all some of my favorites. Her art is simple, beautiful and old fashioned.
To celebrate the day with my children we will be singing, dancing and celebrating. We will also have a fire in our fire pit. In the days before I have plans to do rock art and make sundials with the instructions found in the back of The Longest Day. It also suggests planting sunflowers together but we’ve already planted ours. This is one from our garden.
In summer, the song sings itself. ~William Carlos Williams
