Book-It 'o9! Book #24
More of the Fifty Books Challenge! This was a library request.
Title: And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson and illustrated by Henry Cole
Details: Copyright 2005, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Synopsis (By Way of the Inside Summary in the Publication Information):
"At New York City's Central Park Zoo, two male penguins fall in love and start a family by taking turns sitting on an egg until it hatches."
Also, the book's back cover contains blurbs from various famous sources:
"A touching and delightful variation on a major theme."
-- Maurice Sendak
"This wonderful story of devotion is heartwarming proof that Mother Nature knows best."
-- Harvey Fierstein
"Charming! And Tango Makes Three proves that all kinds of love can create a family."
-- Wendy Wasserstein
"A little miracle for children. Funny, tender, and true, the story of Tango will delight young readers and open their minds."
-- John Lithgow
Why I Wanted to Read It: When _lady_vanilla_ and I visited The Museum of Sex (a lot more than what it sounds like) in NYC this past spring, we saw an exhibit about this story and read that it had been made into a children's book (which was banned in many places due to the efforts of homophobic, hateful bigots, big shock) and I knew I had to read it.
How I Liked It: For those that don't know the story, in a Central Park Zoo the zoo staff noticed two male penguins exhibiting the mating behavior of male-female penguin couples and constructing a nest out of rocks. Interestingly, they appeared to be trying to hatch a rock that resembled an egg. The zoo staff gave them the second egg of a mixed-gender penguin couple, a couple which previously had been unable to successfully hatch two eggs at a time. The egg indeed hatched and produced a healthy female chick that the staff named "Tango".
This book has beautiful illustrations, a sweet tone (several Amazon reviewers complained that the narrative was hard to follow-- um, what?), and ends with the little family curling up to sleep, a bonus I'm sure for child care givers reading the story. I recommend this book to anyone with children. I almost wish I had a child in my vicinity to read it to, it's so adorable.
This book was banned in several libraries and some parents complained that it should be placed in a restricted area and require parental permission to check out. Various hate groups such as "Focus on the Family" (one wonders if they understand the meaning of "family") denounced the book as immoral. If that isn't a stellar recommendation for a read, I don't know what is.
Notable: The crux of the various hate groups' arguments was that the book was "inaccurate". Candi Cushman, of "Focus on the Family Action" claimed that
“It’s very misleading and it’s a very disingenuous, inaccurate way to promote a political agenda to little kids. What they’re not telling kids is that the supposedly gay penguin who is the star of this story later mated with a female penguin in real life. The penguin’s heterosexual behavior was widely reported in national news, including the Chicago Tribune. Besides the point that it’s not even an accurate story, the bottom line is that elementary school libraries are not appropriate places to push political agendas.”
Cushman then had to leave as she was late for her Klan meeting. Just kidding (maybe). What she (sort of) refers to is the fact that the male/male penguin couple, Roy and Silo separated after six years (I believe around the time the book was written; maybe they couldn't stand the media pressure?)and Roy stayed single whereas Silo found another partner, a female. Silo eventually parted with the female after a year and as of this writing and the information I can find, both Roy and Silo are both single (can we hope for a gay penguin reunion?). Interestingly, the female chick they raised went on to partner with another female penguin whom she stayed with for two mating seasons, which goes to show that homosexual penguins were successful in pushing their homosexual penguin agenda upon an impressionable youth. Clearly, this is why this book has been banned, as it's only going to encourage children to become gay penguins themselves and try to hatch rocks. A shame, really.
Title: And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson and illustrated by Henry Cole
Details: Copyright 2005, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Synopsis (By Way of the Inside Summary in the Publication Information):
"At New York City's Central Park Zoo, two male penguins fall in love and start a family by taking turns sitting on an egg until it hatches."
Also, the book's back cover contains blurbs from various famous sources:
"A touching and delightful variation on a major theme."
-- Maurice Sendak
"This wonderful story of devotion is heartwarming proof that Mother Nature knows best."
-- Harvey Fierstein
"Charming! And Tango Makes Three proves that all kinds of love can create a family."
-- Wendy Wasserstein
"A little miracle for children. Funny, tender, and true, the story of Tango will delight young readers and open their minds."
-- John Lithgow
Why I Wanted to Read It: When _lady_vanilla_ and I visited The Museum of Sex (a lot more than what it sounds like) in NYC this past spring, we saw an exhibit about this story and read that it had been made into a children's book (which was banned in many places due to the efforts of homophobic, hateful bigots, big shock) and I knew I had to read it.
How I Liked It: For those that don't know the story, in a Central Park Zoo the zoo staff noticed two male penguins exhibiting the mating behavior of male-female penguin couples and constructing a nest out of rocks. Interestingly, they appeared to be trying to hatch a rock that resembled an egg. The zoo staff gave them the second egg of a mixed-gender penguin couple, a couple which previously had been unable to successfully hatch two eggs at a time. The egg indeed hatched and produced a healthy female chick that the staff named "Tango".
This book has beautiful illustrations, a sweet tone (several Amazon reviewers complained that the narrative was hard to follow-- um, what?), and ends with the little family curling up to sleep, a bonus I'm sure for child care givers reading the story. I recommend this book to anyone with children. I almost wish I had a child in my vicinity to read it to, it's so adorable.
This book was banned in several libraries and some parents complained that it should be placed in a restricted area and require parental permission to check out. Various hate groups such as "Focus on the Family" (one wonders if they understand the meaning of "family") denounced the book as immoral. If that isn't a stellar recommendation for a read, I don't know what is.
Notable: The crux of the various hate groups' arguments was that the book was "inaccurate". Candi Cushman, of "Focus on the Family Action" claimed that
“It’s very misleading and it’s a very disingenuous, inaccurate way to promote a political agenda to little kids. What they’re not telling kids is that the supposedly gay penguin who is the star of this story later mated with a female penguin in real life. The penguin’s heterosexual behavior was widely reported in national news, including the Chicago Tribune. Besides the point that it’s not even an accurate story, the bottom line is that elementary school libraries are not appropriate places to push political agendas.”
Cushman then had to leave as she was late for her Klan meeting. Just kidding (maybe). What she (sort of) refers to is the fact that the male/male penguin couple, Roy and Silo separated after six years (I believe around the time the book was written; maybe they couldn't stand the media pressure?)and Roy stayed single whereas Silo found another partner, a female. Silo eventually parted with the female after a year and as of this writing and the information I can find, both Roy and Silo are both single (can we hope for a gay penguin reunion?). Interestingly, the female chick they raised went on to partner with another female penguin whom she stayed with for two mating seasons, which goes to show that homosexual penguins were successful in pushing their homosexual penguin agenda upon an impressionable youth. Clearly, this is why this book has been banned, as it's only going to encourage children to become gay penguins themselves and try to hatch rocks. A shame, really.