JACOB OLIVA CHANCELLOR OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS

www.fldoe.org

325 W. Gaines Street - Suite 1502 | Tallahassee, FL 32399-0400 | 850-245-0509

MEMORANDUM

DATE: July 13, 2020

TO: School District Superintendents

FROM: Jacob Oliva

SUBJECT: Commissioner’s Summer Reading List

Today, I am pleased to share an updated summer reading list for students and families to utilize

as we prepare for students to go back to school in the fall. The list is comprised of top-of-the-line

literary works, with world-renowned titles that make it the best reading list in the nation.

Highlighting rich historical nonfiction, classical, popular, and thought-provoking Florida-based

works of literature, the list has been carefully curated to encourage all Florida students to dive

into reading and get excited for the upcoming school year.

The importance of this list, especially in July, cannot be underestimated. The COVID-19

pandemic has most likely exacerbated the summer slide for students. This reading list will help

combat this and will prepare students and families as we transition from the current Florida

standards into Florida’s B.E.S.T. Standards. The list includes books from Florida’s B.E.S.T.

Standards’ book list and includes books to help our youngest learners with titles Pre-K learners

can enjoy.

Research shows that children who read each day gain an additional month or more of progress in

a calendar year. By reading 20 minutes a day, students improve their literacy competency and

score higher on reading assessments annually. On average, a student who reads more than 20

minutes per day scores in the 90th percentile on reading assessments.

We hope you will share this summer reading list with your parents, teachers, and families as we

gear up for the school year. Thank you for making literacy and reading proficiency a priority for

Florida’s students. We hope you will use this summer reading list to prepare students for the

upcoming school year. Thank you for all you to meet our shared goal of making Florida the most

literate state in the nation.

State Board of Education Andy Tuck, Chair Marva Johnson, Vice Chair Members Ben Gibson Tom Grady Michael Olenick Ryan Petty Joe York

Richard Corcoran Commissioner of Education

SummerCommissioner Corcoran's

Reading List Pre K through K

A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES Robert Louis Stevenson

BROWN BEAR, BROWN BEAR Bill Martin Jr.

CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault

CORDUROY Don Freeman

CURIOUS GEORGE H.A. Rey

GEORGE WASHINGTON Philip Abraham

HOP ON POP Dr. Seuss

I AM JACKIE ROBINSON Brad Meltzer

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE Bill Martin Jr. and Michael Sampson

SWIMMY Leo Lionni

THE BALD EAGLE Norman Pearl

THE VERY FIRST AMERICANS Cara Ashrose

THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR Eric Carle

TWO WAYS TO COUNT TO TEN: A LIBERIAN FOLKTALE Ruby Dee

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE Maurice Sendak

6th through 8th LITTLE WOMEN Louisa May Alcott

THE NEVERENDING STORY Michael Ende

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES Arthur Conan Doyle

THE CALL OF THE WILD Jack London

A WRINKLE IN TIME Madeleine L'Engle

I AM MALALA Malala Yousafzai

MATILDA Roald Dahl

THE HIDING PLACE Corrie ten Boom

ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS Scott O'Dell

THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO Alexandre Dumas

THEODORE BOONE: KID LAWYER John Grisham

HOOT Carl Hiaasen

THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK Anne Frank

I WILL ALWAYS WRITE BACK Caitlin Alifrenka and Liz Welch

LONG WALK TO FREEDOM Nelson Mandela

THINGS FALL APART Chinua Achebe

THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE Edgar Allan Poe

FINDING LANGSTON Lesa Cline-Ransome

1st through 2nd 3rd through 5thA FIRST BOOK OF THE SEA

BLACK BEAUTY Nicola Davis Anna Sewell

LITTLE HOUSE IN THE B IG WOODS FREDERICK DOUGLASS FIGHTS FOR FREEDOM Laura Ingalls Wilder Margaret Davidson

THE LION AND THE MOUSE Aesop THE SECRET GARDEN

Frances Hodgson Burnett THE EMPORER 'S NEW CLOTHES Hans Christian Andersen ROSA PARKS

Eloise Greenfeld LOVE YOU FOREVER Robert Munsch THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

Washington Irving THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT Beatrix Potter IF YOU TRAVELED ON THE UNDERGROUND

RAILROAD STELLALUNA Ellen Levine Janell Cannon

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES GOODNIGHT MOON Lucy Maud Montgomery Margaret Wise Brown

TREASURE ISLAND THE KISSING HAND Robert Louis Stevenson Audrey Penn

PIPPI LONGSTOCKING LLAMA LLAMA RED PAJAMA Astrid Lindgren Anna Dewdney

RALPH S. MOUSE I AM ENOUGH Beverly Cleary Grace Byers

THE LITTLE PRINCE IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE Antoine de Saint-Exupery Laura Numerof

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY JACK AND THE BEANSTALK Roald Dahl Steven Kellogg

FORT MOSE: AND THE STORY OF THE MAN WHO GREEN EGGS AND HAM BUILT THE FIRST FREE BLACK SETTLEMENT INDr. Seuss COLONIAL AMERICA Glennette Tilley Turner WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE: THE

TRUE STORY OF HARRIET TUBMAN Ann McGovern THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ

L. Frank Baum DON'T TOUCH MY HAIR! Sharee Miller ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND

Lewis Carroll

PROMISES TO KEEP: HOW JACKIE ROBINSON CHANGED AMERICA Sharon Robinson 9th through 12th THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH JANE EYRE Norton Juster Charlotte Bronte THE HOBBIT FRANKENSTEIN

Mary Shelley J.R.R. Tolkien

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE MRS. FRISBY AND THE RATS OF NIMH Jane Austen Robert C. O'Brien

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING William Shakespeare

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN Benjamin Franklin

LORD OF THE FLIES William Golding

ANIMAL FARM George Orwell

A LAND REMEMBERED Patrick D. Smith

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS Agatha Christie

THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA Ernest Hemingway

FINDING MANANA Mirta Ojito

FOUNDING BROTHERS: THE REVOLUTIONARY GENERATION Joseph J. Ellis

THE CRUCIBLE Arthur Miller

A TALE OF TWO CITIES Charles Dickens

A RAISIN IN THE SUN Lorraine Hansberry

THE NICKEL BOYS THE WEARY BLUES Colson Whitehead Langston Hughes

WOODLAWN: ONE HOPE. ONE DREAM. ONE WAY.MANCHILD IN THE PROMISED LAND Todd Gerelds Claude Brown

FLORIDA MADE: THE 25 MOST IMPORTANT FIGURES DEVIL IN THE GROVE WHO SHAPED THE STATE Gilbert King Senator George LeMieux and Laura Mize

Titles are suggested by 2020 Florida Teacher of the Year Dr. Dakeyan Graham