Just in time for National Dog Day on Monday, August 26th, check out one of these reads!
In case you were wondering, the phrase “dog days of summer” refers to the position of Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. It is one of the stars in the constellation Canis Major, or “the Big Dog.” It rises and sets with the sun in the summer, and the ancient Romans believed its heat added to the heat of the sun. Even though we now know that the extra-sultry weather is not due to added radiation from a distant star, but due to the earth’s tilt, we still use the phrase to refer to this time of year.
And for you sensitive dog people out there (like some of our library staff), here is a website that will tell you whether the dog dies in many books, movies, and TV shows.
You know, so you can brace yourself.