Why Do We Celebrate Litha?

Celebrate the longest day with sunlight, bonfires, flowers, berries, and the unforgettable turning point of the year!

Why does the sun stay in the sky so late during June? What connects an old English month name, Stonehenge, flower crowns, and a modern Pagan festival? Why Do We Celebrate Litha? introduces young readers to summer-solstice science, midsummer history, and present-day traditions.

Litha is the name many modern Pagans and Wiccans use for the summer solstice. The book explains how the name came from old English month names and was later adopted for a modern Wheel of the Year festival.

Here is what you will discover inside:
• The Science of the Solstice: Learn how Earth's tilt creates the longest day, the highest summer sun, short midday shadows, and the midnight sun near the Arctic Circle.
• The Story Behind the Name: Discover what the monk Bede wrote about the months called Liða and why there is no surviving record of an ancient festival named Litha.
• Stonehenge at Sunrise: Explore the ancient monument's solar alignment and see why thousands gather there to welcome the midsummer sun.
• Midsummer Around Europe: Visit Swedish celebrations, Latvia's Jāņi (Saint John Festival), Spanish beach bonfires, Norwegian wood towers, and Eastern European Kupala Night customs.
• Modern Pagan Traditions: Make flower crowns and sun wheels, gather herbs, share outdoor feasts, light bonfires, and notice the exact moment daylight begins slowly shrinking again.
• Visual Delight and Careful Facts: Enjoy beautiful, minimalist colorful illustrations filled with bright skies, hilltop fires, stone circles, flowers, berries, oak leaves, candles, and golden sunlight.

Perfect for families, classrooms, homeschoolers, and young nature lovers, this book celebrates astronomy, historical curiosity, seasonal change, community, and the joy of noticing the world.

Grab your copy today and welcome the longest day!