#VoicesFromtheStacksAnd Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson and illustrated by
#VoicesFromtheStacksAnd Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson and illustrated by Henry Cole And Tango Makes Three was written in 2005 by couple Peter Parnell, a playwright and children’s book author, and Justin Richardson, a psychiatrist. It’s based on a true story of two male chinstrap penguins at the New York’s Central Park Zoo named Roy and Silo.The simple story tells how Roy and Silo became a couple and built a nest, sitting on a rock, hopping to hatch it. The zookeeper notices this, and one year when another penguin couple has recently laid an extra egg they can’t take care of (chinstrap penguins tend to lay and care for one egg at a time), he gives it to Roy and Silo, who hatch the egg and take care of the chick. The zookeepers name her Tango because “It takes two to make a Tango”.Parnell and Richardson say that they wrote the book after reading about the penguin family in the New York Times, saying “because we were aware, obviously, of the many different kinds of families there are, it seemed like a great way to tell that story” in a way that made sense to kids.After it came out, the book won several awards, such as recognition as an ALA Notable Children’s Book, a Nick Jr. Family Magazine Best Book of the Year, such as starred reviews from School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Booklist.It also has the dubious honor of being one of the most frequently challenged or banned books, according toALA’s 10 Most Challenged Books List, toping the list at number one between 2006 and 2010, and remaining at number 6 out of 100 in 2020. Most of the challenges, while phrased in different ways, come down to the depiction of a same-sex relationship, including “unsuited to age group,” and “anti-family,” but also a bit surprisingly, “anti-ethnic.”Despite the controversy, this book does not seem to be going anywhere, which is good. After 2020 we can all related to this frazzled chick. –Diane R., Special Collections Graduate Student -- source link