Family Book Club: Florida, Keys, & Adjacent Waters

These books and resources are the suggested reading and media list for the Looping Families Book Club during December and January.

 

Winter on the Loop often means warm water, swaying palms, and a slower cruising pace... whether you’re exploring Florida’s coasts, the Keys, the Okeechobee Waterway, or simply dreaming about nearby islands. This is an excellent time to lean into wildlife, marine ecosystems, Florida history, and island stories through books, movies, and hands-on learning. 

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Picture Books

Perfect for read-alouds and younger readers.

📙 Marjory Saves the Everglades

📙 Manatee Winter

📙 Good Night Florida Keys

📙 Over and Under the Waves

📙 Over and Under the Coral Reef

📙 Fred the Tree

📙 A Whale of a Tale!

📙 Johnny Longlegs: A tale of Big Birds

📙 The Magic School Bus: On the Ocean Floor

📙 The Secret Life of a Sea Turtle

Chapter Books & Middle Grade

Great for independent readers or family read-alouds.

📖 Hoot

📖 Sharks Incorporated

  • This is a 4 book series!
  • If you enjoy these, you may also want to check out other Randy Wayne White books.

📖 Turtle in Paradise

📖 Junonia

📖 The Sea Turtle Scientist

📖 The Boy and the Dolphin

📖 Frog's Boating Adventures: Frog Finds Friends on the Great Loop

  • Written by two Gold Loopers!

📖 The Old Cat and the Tree: The Adventures of a Hemingway Home Cat

📖 Magic Treehouse: Pirates Past Noon

📖 Treasure off the Coast: A Junior Rangers Investigative Club Novel in Dry Tortugas National Park

📖 Treasure of Biscayne Bay: A Junior Rangers Investigative Club Novel

📖 Key's Secret

  • This is the fifth book in the series. Check out the other ones!

Teen Reads

Teen Fiction:

Best for older kids and mature teens.

📘 Flashback (An Anna Pigeon Novel)

📘 Charlotte’s Story: A Florida Keys Diary 1934 & 1935

📘 The Old Man and the Sea

📘 Flush

📘 Tangerine

📘 Their Eyes Were Watching God

 

Teen Nonfiction:

History, ecology, and real-world adventure.

📗 X Marks the Spot: The Archaeology of Piracy

📗 America’s Fortress: A History of Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, Florida

📗 The Blue Fold

📗 Last Train to Paradise

📗 The Everglades: River of Grass

📗 Shadow Divers

Movies

🍿 Because of Winn Dixie

  • 1 hour, 46 minutes
  • Rated PG
  • Live Action
  • Also a book!

🍿 The Swiss Family Robinson

  • 51 minutes
  • Rated for All
  • Live Action and Black & White
  • Newer and animated versions also available

🍿 Hoot

  • 1 hour, 30 minutes
  • Rated PG
  • Live Action

🍿 Dolphin Tale

  • 1 hour, 47 minutes
  • Rated G
  • Live Action

🍿 Flipper

  • 1 hour, 35 minutes
  • Rated PG
  • Live Action

💻 The Old Man and the Sea

  • 20 minutes
  • Available on YouTube
  • Animated

🍿 Finding Nemo

  • 1 hour, 35 minutes
  • Rated G
  • Animated

🍿 The Rescuers Down Under

  • 1 hour, 13 minutes
  • Rated G
  • Animated