Making the most of the longest days of the year

Summer is a season of sun, heat and daylight that brings activity to all corners of life, from plants bearing fruit to animals and birds feeding their young. It also brings people together in the open air, whether on holiday, a day trip to the beach, celebrating the longest day of the year or just making the most of the weather. Through inspirational quotes, interesting facts, fascinating trivia the Little Book of Summer explores what makes three months of every year summer as well as our relationship with the great outdoors and with each other during the warmest season of the year.

"Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." - Henry James

If you can hear crickets chirping on a balmy summer evening, you can use their chirps to determine the temperature. Crickets are cold-blooded creatures and chirp at a frequency consistent with the air temperature. For a Celsius reading, count the number of chirps over 25 seconds, then divide that number by 3 and add 4. For Fahrenheit, count the number of chirps in 14 seconds, then add 40.