Manatee Book List

Books for Young Readers:

Some of these titles may be purchased at our Manatee Store.

Recommended for Ages 4-8

A Manatee Christmas
by Tim Thomas
Thomas Expressions Publishing Co., Panama City, FL (2007)
Reading level: Ages 4-8

A Manatee Morning
by Jim Arnosky
Simon and Schuster, New York, NY (2000)
Reading level: Ages 4-8

Bella by the Sea
by Nancy Thibault
Peppertree Press (2010)
Reading level: Ages 5-9

Buddy Manatee
by Tim Thomas
Thomas Expressions Publishing Co., Panama City, FL (2001)
Reading level: Ages 4-8

Chessie the Meandering Manatee
by Carol A. Amato
Barrons’s Educational Series, Inc., Hauppauge, NY (1997)
Reading level: Ages 4-8

Cosmo the Boat Cat (book and CD)
by Sherry Sweet Tewell
Key West, FL (2010)
Reading level: Ages 4-8

I Am A Manatee. Yes I Am.
by Rosalie Tagg Masella
Vesper Enterprises, Inc. (2014)

I’m a Manatee (book and CD)
by John Lithgow
Little Simon, New York, NY (2003)
Reading level: Ages 4-8

J. Rooker, manatee
by Jan Haley
Focus Publishing, Inc., Bemidji, MN (2002)
Reading level: Ages 4-8

Kobee Manatee: Heading Home to Florida
by Robert Scott Thayer
Thompson Mill Press, Philadelphia, PA (2013)
Reading level: Ages 4-8

Kobee Manatee: A Wild Weather Adventure
by Robert Scott Thayer
Thompson Mill Press, Philadelphia, PA (2015)
Reading level: Ages 4-8

Kobee Manatee: Shipwreck Sea Friends
by Robert Scott Thayer
Thompson Mill Press, Philadelphia, PA (2017)
Reading level: Ages 4-8

Manatees: Peaceful Plant Eaters
by Adele Richardson
Capstone Press, Mankato, MN (2002)
Reading level: Ages 4-8

Mary Manatee: A Tale of Seacows
by Suzanne Tate
Nags Head Art, Nags Head, NC (1990)
Reading level: Ages 4-8

Molly the Manatee
by Chic Cariaga
Cool Water Ripple Books (2016)
Reading level: Ages 6 and up

Murphy The Manatee Visits Memphis
by James Jackson and Erin Thorpe
AuthorHouse (2011)
Reading level: Ages 4-8

My Little Book of Manatees
by Hope Irvin-Marston
Windward Publishing (2007)
Reading level: Ages 4-8

Sam the Sea Cow
by Francine Jacobs
Walker and Company, New York, NY (1992)
Reading level: Ages 4-8

The Gulf Oil Spill Story Book
by Simone Lipscomb
Turtle Island Adventures
Reading level: Ages 5 and up

The Saving of Sly Manatee
by John Harms
Frederick Press (2001)
Reading level: Ages 4-8

Recommended for Ages 7-14:

El Manatí de Puerto Rico (in Spanish)
by Antonio Mignucci
Caribbean Stranding Network and the
Inter American University of Puerto Rico (2010)
Reading level: Ages 7-18

The Great Manatee Rescue
by Mary Maden
Dog and Pony Publishing, Kill Devil Hills, NC (1999)
Reading level: Ages 9-12

Manatee Blues
by Laurie Halse Anderson
Puffin Books (2008)
Reading level: Ages 9-12

Manatee Moon
by Marian Strong Tomblin
Avery Good-Reid Publishers, Ormond Beach, FL (2006)
Reading level: Ages 9-15

The Manatee Who Wanted to be a Mermaid
by Bill Leyden
Happy Critter Press (2006)
Reading level: Ages 7-12

The Missing Manatee
by Cynthia DeFelice
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); (2008)
Reading level: Ages 9-12

Trouble on the St. John’s River
by Jane R. Wood
Florida Kids Press (2008)
Reading level: Ages 9-14

Books for Adult Readers:

Balancing on the Brink of Extinction:
Endangered Species Act And Lessons For The Future
edited by Kathryn A. Kohm
Island Press (1990)

Biology of Marine Mammals
by John E. Reynolds
Smithsonian Books (2007)

Conservation and Management of Marine Mammals
by John R. Twiss and Randall R. Reeves
Smithsonian Institution Press (1999)

Ecology and Behavior of the Manatee
(Trichechus manatus) in Florida
by Daniel S. Hartman
American Society of Mammalogists
Special Publication No. 5, Lawrence, KS (1979)

Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, Second Edition
edited by William F. Perrin, Bernd Wursig, and J. G.M. Thewissen
Academic Press (2008)
See pages 1083-1086, “Sirenian Evolution,” by Daryl P. Domning;
and “The Manatees — Family Trichechidae” (Trichechus manatus,
T. senegalensis, and T. inunguis) by John E. Reynolds and James A. Powell

The Florida Manatee: Biology and Conservation
by Roger L. Reep and Robert K. Bonde
University Press of Florida (2006)

Manatees
by James Powell
Voyageur Press (2002)

Manatees and Dugongs
by John E. Reynolds and Daniel K. Odell
Facts on File, Inc., New York, NY (1991)

Manatees and Dugongs of the World
by Jeff Ripple
Voyageur Press (2002)