And Tango Makes Three

Based on a true story, this book uses cute illustrations and the innocence of the animal kingdom to expose children to a risqué yet timely topic. The story takes place in a zoo and tells of how two male penguins become a couple amid all the other mixed-gender couples. This love affair happens

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naturally and without discrimination, which suggests that homosexuality among humans should be perceived and accepted in the same light. With the help of their zookeeper, the couple is able to start a family, which leads to the birth of their daughter, Tango. The authors make parallels between the parental roles of the same-gender family and the mixed-gender families, with a tone that suggests that they are equal despite their slight differences. The final message is that Tango’s family life is rich and full of love, and that her having two daddies is a unique trait that is worth celebrating.

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Summary: This book is about two male penguins named Roy and Silo who live at the zoo in New York. The zookeeper noticed that Roy and Silo spent a lot of time together rather than with female penguins. The two boy penguins even made a nest together and put a rock in it, in the hopes that it would

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turn into a baby. They both took turns sitting over it and protecting it, but nothing happened. Then one day, the zookeeper got an idea and took an egg that need to be cared for and placed it in Roy and Silo's nest. Again, they went through the same process of sitting and protecting it, until it eventually hatched and out came Tango. Roy and Silo took care of Tango for the rest of her life.

Review: I thought this book was very cute. It is a great way to show how families may not always be how one may believe they should be. For example, Roy and Silo are two male penguins who had a baby. Some children may be unfamiliar with this concept and this is a great way to introduce them. Therefore, I think the main message in this book is acceptance. The book pointed out that after Tango was born, many people would come in the zoo and watch the two fathers with her baby and they would clap and cheer for them. This shows that the people at the zoo were very accepting of the fact that it was two male penguins rather than a conventional family that would have a mom and a dad. Overall, I think this book is a great way to introduce this concept to younger children and to show them that it is important to accept others no matter what.

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This is such a great non fiction book for children of all ages. Peter dose a great job of retelling this story of two penguins in the New York city zoo who become a couple. The two penguins watch what the other penguin couples are doing and copy them. When all the others are hatching out chicks,

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these two appear to be confused and upset that their not able to do this. The handler at the zoo notices that they seem to be missing out on hatching out a chick, so he puts a viable egg in their nest. The two take turns setting on the nest and the results of their efforts are a female penguin named Tango. Two themes I see are the importance of family even if the genders are the same, that not all offspring/children have both a mom and a dad, sometimes two moms or dads. Another theme is compassion and kindness. The handler shows compassion and kindness by helping these two male penguins become parents.

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This story is about two penguins who are both males and fall in love with each other. Their unable to have a babies naturally so the zoo keeper of the penguins gives them an egg. Young children who totally not even question the story because of the issue having two fathers. Children would only see

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penguins.

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I recently attended a Banned Books Week Read-a-Thon, and was asked to read this small volume as part of the Read-a-Thon. The book is about the true story of two male penguins, Roy and Silo, who formed a six year relationship at the Central Park Zoo. When zoo keepers noticed them trying to hatch a

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rock as if it were an egg, the zoo keepers gave them the second egg from another pair to hatch, which they did successfully, raising the female, named Tango, as their own.

And Tango Makes Three is a simplified version of this story, to teach children that not all families are made up the same way. The accompanying illustrations were cute and went well with the tone of the story.

The book was banned for obvious reasons; gay penguins are going to pervert America's youth, you know. I think the story was well presented, showing that there is nothing wrong with gay parenting, and that if the penguins can do it, and do it well, that it really can't be all that bad, can it? A good book for parents, gay and straight alike, to read to their children, to help open their eyes at a young age to this fact and show there is nothing wrong with families that may be looked on as being "different."

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I am impressed by how the authors took this true story and turned it into a story that children could understand. The differences between Roy and Silo and the other penguins is shown, but the focus of the story is on the two penguins being good parents to their egg.

The most challenged book of 2006! This is based on a true story -- two male penguins bond to raise a baby penguin. It advocates homosexuality and that made everyone uncomfortable. Here are two guy penguins just trying to do the right thing! I guess that doesn't advocate anything ... just doing the

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right thing. - Monica

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The light and joyful text captures the spirit and longing of Roy and Silo, as they long for a baby penguin. The language is appropriate for a young reader, and gives information at an age-appropriate level of detail. The illustrations ave very expressive and delightfully capture the progression of

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Tango's arrival.

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In response to comments about homosexuality being "unnatural," the authors present the true story of a couple of male penguins who are given an egg, hatch it and raise it, making one big happy family. An excellent book to read to children just noticing that someone might have two moms or two dads

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and great for parents wanting to present positive images of both straight and gay families. This book absolutly does not mention sex in any way-these are two guy penguins who like each other alot and really want to raise a baby penguin like they see other penguin couples doing.
Adorable artwork, simple enough writing-good for read aloud or early readers, up through about 2nd grade (if kids know lots of gay people) or older (if the kids aren't ever introduced to gay people or couples).

This book is worth defending in libraries.

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Based on the true story of some penguins at the New York Zoo, this book is a moving and delightful introduction to the idea of alternative families. The wonderful illustrations and straight-forward approach to the story make this book an excellent choice for story-time at home or in school. The

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current popularity of penguins and their gosh-darned cuteness make them an excellent choice to introduce young children to the idea that not every family is the same. I was delighted to learn that the story is true, and know children will want to learn more about Tango and her family; I hope a sequel is in the works!

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…And Tango Makes Three is the true story of Roy and Silo, two chinstrap penguins in the Central Park Zoo who hatch an egg together to create a new variety of penguin family-one with two dads! Richardson and Parnell have created a plot that is simple enough for young readers to follow, with

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characters whose intentions interesting and evoke empathy, all helped along by Henry Cole’s peaceful and happy watercolor illustrations. The authors treatment of the content is valuable and respectful-focusing not on the oddness of Tango’s family but instead on the joy of creating a family, and are careful not to veer off into a lesson about acceptance. Recommended for any youth picture book collection.

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Two male New York City zoo penguins become a family and the zoo keeper gives them an egg to hatch and raise, Tango is the chicks name.

A heart warming story about a TRUE LIFE male penguin couple who "adopt" an unwanted egg at the Central Park Zoo in NYC. They care for it as their own and name the baby penguin Tango.

Sweet little book, true story, about a pair of male penguins in Central Park Zoo that paired up and tried to raise a chick - brooding a rock, for instance. A keeper gave them a spare egg (second fertile egg laid by a penguin pair that usually managed to raise one), and they brooded and raised the

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chick successfully. Nice story. BTW - it's on the list of suggested banned books this year (2009) - sigh.

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And Tango Makes Three is the award winning, oft-challenged children's book that tells the true story of Roy and Silo, a male penguin couple at the Central Park Zoo. When it came time for mating season, instead of pairing with female penguins, Roy and Silo became companions. They performed

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traditional penguin mating rituals like bowing and wrapping their necks around each other. One day, their keeper saw that they had obtained a rock and were trying to hatch it. He noticed that another penguin couple had more eggs than they could handle, and gave the extra egg to Roy and Silo. They cared for the egg just like every other penguin couple. Soon the egg hatched, and the baby penguin was named Tango.
Tango's story is a heartwarming one, and one libraries should own to provide the option for young readers to explore. In addition to the message that Tango's family is just as valid as every other, the book gives some insight into the lives and rituals of penguins as well. Children will like the illustrations (lots of pictures of cute animals!), and the book is easy to read and understand. The message that there are many different kinds of families will resonate especially with children of non-traditional families, who may not have many books to represent them in the library.

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This book (And Tango Makes Three,) is a well-written, enjoyable, heart-warming tale of a family of penguins in a zoo. It teaches about the life cycle of a penguin and penguin family units using the true story of an extraordinary penguin family at the Central Park Zoo. The watercolor illustrations

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as well as the gentle text remind the reader of the warmth and comfort of families. The illustrations themselves show families of all kinds, made up of a rainbow of ethnicities, though the focus is not on them. The text is in a lovely soft font. Young readers of all kinds will leave this book with a “we are the world” feeling. Perhaps that’s why some adults find it so threatening.

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All Ages - And Tango Makes Three has been THE controversial picture book since it was published. It is alternatively loved and detested, but I find it quite mediocre. The most charming aspect of the book is the Author's Note in the back which explains that the book is based on real penguins at the

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Central Park Zoo. I enjoyed the closing sentence, but overall the writing lacks flow. The illustrations, while nicely done in watercolor, don't give you any sense of the penguins' personalities - you can't tell Roy and Silo apart. This book is recommended for all sizes of public libraries and elementary school libraries, because it offers a story of an non-traditional family that can be difficult to find in a picture book and because its "banned" status makes it very popular.

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This was the most challenged book of 2007 (meaning that of all the books in the United States that were banned or suggested to be banned, this book was challenged more than any other).

This is a story of Roy and Silo, two male penguins at the Central Park Zoo in New York. These two male penguins spend all of their time together and notice that they are not able to have a family like the other penguins in the habitat, although they try to hatch a rock. The penguin keeper gives the

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couple an egg that has been abandoned and the couple nurture the egg until it is hatched. When it is hatched that penguin becomes the first baby penguin with two dads. The two male penguins and their new baby became a family and cuddled up like the rest of the families. This is a super adorable book. A good way to introduce families and what makes a family. It's very simple and an easy read for toddlers. The pictures are soft and simple.

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Tells the true story of two male penguins who fell in love while living in the zoo of New York City's Central Park. One of the zoo keepers who knew these penguins very well gave them the chance to raise an egg that would have not been able to be taken care of by its own parents. They raised the egg

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to be a happy and healthy young female penguin who readers can still go see in this famous zoo.

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“And Tango makes three” is a book with a lot of controversy around it, so of course I was intrigued to see what the big deal was. I was expecting there to be far less controversial material in actuality (as is often the case), but I could see where a lot of people would get their feathers

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ruffled (no pun intended) about this book. Basically, the book tells the story of two male penguins in the Central Park zoo who show no interest in the female penguins but spend their time together as a female-male couple would. The only difference is that the nest they built is empty. When an opportunity arises for the two penguins to care for an egg, they do and Tango is born. This basic plot doesn’t really seem all that controversial to me, but I can see how the language can really get some people riled up (i.e., the zookeeper looks at the two male penguins and thinks “they must be in love”). So, if homosexuality (or the idea of explaining homosexuality to your child) bothers you, then steer clear of this book. However, if you’re looking for an age-appropriate way to explain homosexual couples/families to your child, this book is the perfect tool for opening up that conversation.

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I absolutely loved this book! I think it was a great introduction for children to see that all families are different and all that really matters is that there is a love within a family. I think that it is cute that it is a true story, and really shows a sense of reality and how families can work

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together towards one goal.....love!

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With all the controversy swirling around this book, of course I had to include it in my digital library. Let’s not forget, we may not like every book we own, but if we didn’t have books that challenge our way of thinking, we would never grow or evolve and neither would our culture. At its most

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basic level, this book is about two penguins and can be read that way to young children. The illustrations are beautiful, and children are naturally drawn to the animal kingdom. If, however, this book is being used to lead into a discussion of families, gender issues, or same-sex relationships, I feel it is necessary for the librarian to be responsible enough to notify parents before the book is presented to children. Parents should have the choice to opt out of the activity, or at the very least, introduce their children to the topic in their own way before being exposed to it in the public school or library setting. I also feel the responsible librarian will also be sure the activities provided to the students are age-appropriate and not just presented because a personal or political agenda.
Library Implications: Through reading this book, young children will enjoy learning about the animal kingdom and the life processes of the penguin. I also like that this book can be comforting to children who have same-sex parents. The penguins are accepted in the penguin house, the family accepts each other and they are together throughout the story. It shows children that even though their family is different, its O. K. Older students can use this book to explore family/gender roles. This book could also be used to discuss zoo life and occupations related to animals.

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The incredibly true story of two penguins in love! The illustrations are adorable and the story is charming.