And Tango Makes Three

Richardson, Justin and Peter Parnell (Writers)& Henry Cole (Illustrator). (2005). And Tango Makes Three. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Who says only human families can be different from one another? In the story, And Tango Makes Three, two male penguins are depicted as a gay couple in the respect that they take care of and raise a baby penguin. This is a true story that is based on two chinstrap penguins from New York’s Central Park Zoo, Roy and Silo. Roy and Silo had at one point in their lives came together as a couple. The zoo keepers decided to give an egg that another couple was un-able to hatch and give it to the couple. The story ends up with the hatching, birth and life of Tango, a baby female penguin, the couples’ newest member of their family.

I think this a great book that depicts a non-traditional family in a positive light. This book being a true story gives more dimensions to it; adding more depth behind the characters. Even though the main characters are penguins, it is extremely relatable. It shows young children that it is absolutely okay to be a part of a non-traditional family, in fact it is depicted as being no different that than a traditional family. The best part of the book to me was the end page. “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.” This book has received numerous amounts of awards including, the 2006 American Library Association (ALA) Notable Children’s Book, ASPCA’s Henry Bergh Award, Gustavus Myer Outstanding Book Award, just to name a few. Along with these amazing awards and others, And Tango Makes Three was considered to be the most challenged book of 2006 according to the ALA.