2023

Commissioner's Book of the Month

Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr. launched the Commissioner’s Book of the Month, a monthly reading challenge to promote literacy and reading engagement in K-12 schools. Literacy skills developed during formative years are essential for students to succeed both academically and in life, and reading comprehension develops as students engage with interesting and meaningful books. Teachers and parents are encouraged to recommend these books to students.

“The Commissioner’s Book of the Month will be an opportunity to highlight authors and titles, offering students rewarding opportunities for classroom and at-home discussion. This new initiative will add to Florida’s ever-present focus on providing students access to challenging books that increase critical thinking skills and deepen understanding.” ~ Commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr.

December 2023

PreK – Crinkle Bells by Jay Fleck
K-2 – Jeremy’s Dreidel by Ellie B. Gellman
3-5 – The Legend of the Christmas Tree by Pat Matuszak and Rick Osborne
6-8 – Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
9-12 – "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry

November 2023

PreK – Thankful Thanksgiving by Deb Adamson
K-2 – The Very First Americans by Cara Ashrose
3-5 – Fort Mose: And the Story of the Man Who Built the First Free Black Settlement in Colonial America by Glennette Tilley Turner
6-8 – The Adventures of Lewis and Clark by John Bakeless
9-12 – 1984 by George Orwell

October 2023

PreK – Shabbat is Coming by Tracy Newman
K-2 – Try It!: How Frieda Caplan Changed the Way We Eat by Mara Rockliff
3-5 – The Candymakers by Wendy Mass
6-8 – The Monster Missions by Laura Martin
9-12 – Night by Elie Wiesel

September 2023

PreK – Rin, Rin, Rin/Do, Re, Mi by José-Luis Orozco
Grades K-2 – Amigo by Carlos Zamora
Grades 3-5 – A Taste of the Mexican Market - El Gusto Del Mercado Mexicano by Nancy María Grande Tabor
Grades 6-8 – Julieta and the Diamond Enigma by Luisana Duarte Armendáriz
Grades 9-12 – The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton

August 2023

PreK – My Florida Alphabet by Russell W. Johnson and Annie P. Johnson
Grades K-2 – Groovy Joe: Ice Cream & Dinosaurs by Eric Litwin
Grades 3-5 – The Magician's Hat by Malcolm Mitchell
Grades 6-8 – Fins by Randy Wayne White
Grades 9-12 – Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington
Grades 9-12 – Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

July 2023

PreK – Good Night America by Adam Gamble
Grades K-2 – You're a Grand Old Flag by George M. Cohan
Grades 3-5 – The Bald Eagle by Norman Pearl
Grades 6-8 – George Washington, Spymaster: How the Americans Outspied the British and Won the Revolutionary War by Thomas B. Allen
Grades 9-12 – D-Day: The Invasion of Normandy, 1944 (The Young Readers Adaptation) by Rick Atkinson

June 2023

PreK – Big Al by Andrew Clements
Grades K-2 – Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood by Tony Hillery
Grades 3-5 – Catching a Storyfish by Janice N. Harrington
Grades 6-8 – The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom
Grades 9-12 – The Piano Lesson by August Wilson

May 2023

PreK – I See Summer by Charles Ghigna
Grades K-2 – The Little Butterfly That Could by Ross Burach
Grades 3-5 – Charlie & Frog by Karen Kane
Grades 6-8 – The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Grades 9-12 – Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhhà Lai

April 2023

PreK – Ten Red Apples by Pat Hutchins
Grades K-2 – I Am Ruby Bridges by Ruby Bridges
Grades 3-5 – The Life of Rosa Parks by Kathleen Connors
Grades 6-8 – Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Grades 9-12 – Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton

March 2023

Grades K-2 – The Lion and the Mouse by Aesop
Grades 3-5 – Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates by Jonah Winter
Grades 6-8 – Lifeboat 12 by Susan Hood
Grades 9-12 – The Raft by S.A. Bodeen