Title: And Tango Makes Three
Author: Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Illustrator: Henry Cole
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2005
A true story about two penguins in Central Park Zoo in New York City, And Tango Makes Three has won multiple awards, including American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) Henry Bergh Award (2005), American Library Association (ALA) Notable Book (2006), Bank Street Best Books of the Year, and the Rainbow Project Book List (2008), and been a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award (Magnuson, 2012, p.4). It has also been in American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom‘s Top Ten Most Challenged Books eight times since publication in 2005 (American Library Association, n.d.).
This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of Silo and Roy, two male penguins who pair up together, build a nest, and attempt to raise a family like the other penguins, by nurturing an egg-shaped rock. When the keeper Rob Gramzay notices, he provides them with an egg from another brood (Richardson, Parnell, & Cole, 2005, p. 28), which they successfully hatch. Rob names the chick Tango, because “it takes two to make a Tango” (p. 22). Silo and Roy raise Tango the same way the other penguins raise their chicks, and together create a loving penguin family.
Aimed at children aged 3 to 8 years, this is a gentle look at different types of families, love, and even the concept of adoption (Moore, n.d.). It is an excellent resource for introducing and validating same-sex couples and rainbow families to younger children.
References
American Library Association. (n.d.). Top ten most challenged books lists. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/top10
Magnuson, M. L. (2012). Perceptions of self and the “other”: an analysis of challenges to And Tango Makes Three. School Library Research, 14.
Miller, A. (2014). Unsuited to age group: the scandals of children’s literature. College Literature, 41(2), 120-140. doi:10.1353/lit.2014.0025
Moore, T. (n.d.). And Tango Makes Three book review. Retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/and-tango-makes-three
Hi Joanne,
Reading your blog post reminded me of a very angry customer we had had the library where I work last year. She wrote a long letter about how a particular children’s book was inappropriate in the library. I can’t remember the exact book, but it was a picture book in which the parents had a fight and the dad yelled at the mum. The library member thought it was incredibly inappropriate that we would stock a book that showed parents fighting. All the staff couldn’t understand why she saw it as a problem though, after all this book was just a reflection of what can happen in many family homes, just as the story that you review of two men partnering up to raise a child is also something that happens in many family homes. I like to see the diversity of human existence reflected in our children’s literature, because it helps children feel less alone. I think it’s so important that authors and illustrators continue to tell these stories. As well as that, nooks with LGBTQ+ issues are needed in libraries because children often grow up in households that don’t have the standard mother and father, and all family structures need to be validated (Dorr & Deskins, (2018).
References
Dorr, C. & Deskins, L. (2018). LGBTQAI+ books for children and teens : providing a window for all. ALA Editions