Manatee Summer by Evan Griffith
Shortly after the Florida Association for Media in Education (FAME) released their 2024 - 2025 SSYRA Book List for grades 3 - 5, our local bookstore, Fern & Fable Books announced a summer book club event for kids. We went the first week of summer break to get our copy of the book and began reading. Here’s how we read, analyzed, and celebrated this amazing story…
by Evan Griffith
READING AND ANALYZING
We purchased our shared copy from Fern & Fable Books in anticipation of their book club event later in the month of June. We also borrowed the audiobook from our library using the Hoopla app.
After we finished the book, we worked together to complete our Outline of Literary Elements. I created this worksheet for the boys to take notes. Their school uses this book list for Accelerated Reader points and they didn’t want to forget the details of the book by the time they get to take the quizzes when school starts in the fall. Here is a link to download the answer key.
CELEBRATING OUR READING
Book Club event at Fern & Fable Books
Group share out of best, most surprising, and saddest parts of the book
Trivia questions
Manatee craft and educational pages
Opportunity to purchase stuffed manatee and/or local artwork with a portion of the proceeds being donated to manatee conservation and research
Followed by a late lunch/early dinner at Ormond Garage with friends
WHAT WE LEARNED ABOUT FLORIDA MANATEES
While the Florida Manatee Society is a fictional organization, we learned that there are several programs in Florida that do the same things…
Florida Manatee Program through Florida Fish and Wildlife
Report violations online or call 888-404-FWCC (888-404-3922)
West Indian Manatees were reclassified from endangered to threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act in May 2017.
Map of Florida locations to see manatees
GOING TO SEE THE MANATEES
We finished reading the book during a weekend vacation to Rainbow Springs during Father’s Day weekend. After we got home and napped, we went paddleboarding in Manatee Cove to see if we could find any. Of course, we knew we couldn’t swim with them like Peter and Tommy did, but it was still an amazing way to celebrating finishing our reading. We parked at 6630 Engram Road New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168 and immediately found lots of manatees. There were so many little noses popping out of the water. We were there for a while, but they started to get curious, approaching the boards, so we left.
During the winter months, Blue Springs State Park in Orange City, FL is another great option for seeing the manatees. They do not like the cold weather and huddle near the headspring for warmth. The morning after the evenings with freeze warnings are popular for the springs. The rangers post the number of manatees they find before opening at the gate.
In 1970, two years before Blue Spring State Park was established, researchers tracked 14 manatees in the spring run.
By 2005, after years of park improvements and manatee protection efforts, wintering manatee numbers exceeded 200.
By 2023 that number skyrocketed to a record 729.
These record numbers draw big crowds, which means the park often closes early on these days because they reach capacity. If you want to see them, you’ll need to get there early.
