And Tango Makes Three by
Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
An LGBTQ book review by Diana Foster
And Tango Makes Three
is the heart-warming and true story about two male penguins at the Central Park
Zoo. The two penguins, Roy and Silo, became inseparable and fell in love. They wanted
to have a baby penguin like the other penguin families. The zookeeper found a
fertile egg that needed to be incubated, so he put the egg into a nest that Roy
and Silo had built, which they took turns keeping warm. Eventually, the egg
hatched and Tango was born into this caring penguin family.
This is an excellent picture book that illustrates different
family structures. I especially enjoyed that the characters are penguins,
supporting the fact that sexual preference is biological. This book would be a
great discussion opener for students to discuss how families can be
different. We have several students at
my school who come from unique family situations. This is a touching example of
a loving family that would help students learn acceptance. When I checked it
out of our school library, the librarian said that she has received complaints
from parents regarding the content of And
Tango Makes Three. This is proof that we need to bring more books like this
into our elementary schools.
I also read this book. One thing I was thinking about afterward was how to engage young readers in discussion about its content because it is centered around a very sensitive and controversial topic. Any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteI was wondering the same thing. I was thinking that with my fifth graders I would have a discussion about the many different variations of families.
DeleteI've been wanting to read this book! From your review, it seems to me that this is a straightforward story of two penguins raising a chick together, no controversy necessary. I'm so glad to hear the library has it despite the complaints. What an important lesson for kids!
ReplyDeleteAndrea
Sadly, I had to get it from Meadow School!
DeleteI love this book! Thanks for the review! I think the way the author brings about the situation of sexuality is very age appropriate and I like how you brought up the point that families can be different and that sexual preference is biological.
ReplyDelete-Ayisha