And Tango Makes Three

Written by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Illustrated by Henry Cole


I thought I would start this blog with a bang.  This book is an American Library Association Notable Children's Book (2006), the 2006 Nick Jr. Family Magazine Book of the Year, the 2006 Bank Street Book of the year, and winner of several awards such as ASPCA's Henry Bergh Award and the Gustavus Myer Outstanding Book Award.  The cover shows a cute, loving, and innocent-looking penguin family.  But don't be fooled!  In many places this book is...

Why is this book banned, you ask?  The inside of the dust cover states, "In the zoo there are all kinds of families.  But Tango's family is not like any of the others."  And this difference is what makes this book so controversial in many elementary schools.  You see, Tango the penguin has two dads.

I know what you're thinking: gay penguins?  Somebody really wrote a children's book about gay penguins?  Yes!  And the best part of it is, it is all based on a true story.  This lovely book tells the story of two penguins, Roy and Silo, who fall in love and decide to become mates.  They swim together, play together, sing together, and even build their own nest together.  But there is one thing that other penguin couples can do that they cannot: they can't lay an egg or make a family.  So, they content themselves with finding a rock that looks like an egg, and taking care of it as if it were their own.

But one day this all changes.  Their keeper, Mr. Gramzay, found an egg that needed to be cared for.  He brings it to Roy and Silo's nest and replaces the rock they had been caring for.    Roy and Silo take turns patiently sitting on their egg.  And what do you know!  A few weeks later, their own baby penguin has hatched!  Mr. Gramzay called her Tango, "because it takes two to make a Tango."

The story concludes telling how people cheer for Tango and her family at the zoo.  Tango's family is very special indeed.  But I think the last sentence of the book is what really draws it all together.  "There they snuggled together and, like all the other penguins in the penguin house, and all the other animals in the zoo, and all the families in the big city around them, they went to sleep."  And it just goes to show that even though Tango has a very unique family, they are just as loving and caring as any other family in the zoo or in the city.  This story sends a clear messages that families can still be happy and strong, even if they are different from the what is considered to be normal.  And in a day and age where families come in all shapes and sizes, I think that the message of understanding and acceptance is important for all children.