And Tango Makes Three (Classic Board Books)

Funny - as I finished reading this beautiful book for the first time, one of my old favorite songs (by Hal David/Burt Bacharach) as a child growing up in the 60's started playing in my head... What the world needs now is love sweet love, It's the only thing that there's just too little of. What the world needs now is love sweet love, No not just for some but for everyone! The simplicity of the words husband and husband team Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell have used to tell the true story of a couple of male chinstrap penguins (Roy and Silo) at New York's Central Park Zoo, who had paired off as a couple and were given an extra fertilized egg to hatch on their way to becoming a family unlike any of the zoo's other animal families (but a family nonetheless!), makes this book a perfect way to begin naturally introducing the concepts of acceptance and inclusion to youngsters. The soft illustrations by Henry Cole are such a nice complement to the story - I'm really looking forward to sharing this special book with our four grandchildren, who will most certainly be meeting many families of varying composition during their lifetimes! The way baby Tango and his dads are welcomed by the children coming to see them after his birth is a good "footprint in the sand" to leave on a child's growing sense of the world around them. I'm a dozen years late in my personal discovery of the book, so I missed the brouhaha surrounding its 2005 publication, having appeared on the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom's "Top Ten Most Challenged Book List" from 2006-2010, reappearing in 2012, and - sadly - again as late as 2014. This is such a gentle book, and to imagine literature that celebrates the love and devotion of parents would ever appear on such a list is disheartening. This is a sweet book that talks of the desire to share a home and a family (I'll type the text in the comment section below for parents/grandparents to read for themselves if they're on the fence about the book.) The younger of my two sons is gay, has been in a committed and happy relationship with his partner for seven years, and should they eventually marry and decide to begin a family, it would be so painful to the heart of this mother to see his family shunned or ridiculed. I hope the authors have not experienced it since the birth of their own daughter, little Gemma, whom I suppose is about 8 years old now and feeling very loved and secure. Children are drawn to books about animals, there aren't too many animals cuter or funnier than penguins, and if you're a parent or grandparent who's searching for ways to begin opening your child's mind to the concept of the different types of families they'll encounter (or may be a part of!) along life's journey, as I myself have been, I think "And Tango Makes Three" is a nice place to start.

This is a sweet story that shows love and acceptance. I see no reason that it should be banned from children’s libraries.

Great true story o two males penguins who hatch an egg given to them by the zoo keepers and raise the chick. Quiet, non-political way to introduce a touchy subject. Told in a straight forward manner.

I bought this book for Banned Book Week. I read it to my 4 and 5 year old daughters and they really loved the penguins. They were able to understand that animals have families too and that not all families are the same. They loved hearing about how the two boy penguins wanted an egg of their own. I loved how simple and beautiful the story is. I would recommend this story to any family wanting to teach acceptance to their children. I am a heterosexual, married mother and I didn't feel like this book pushed any kind of agenda, it's a sweet story. It's still true, even if Silo and Roy are no longer together. And even though it's not written in eloquent iambic pentameter, I believe that they way you read it ultimately defines the tone of any book. It never uses the word gay, or the term LGBT or even says homosexual... it's just about two boy penguins who chose each other and wanted an egg. Same sex pairings happen in the animal kingdom, and I think this book does justice to the fact that not only do animals often group into families, but that sometimes they aren't what humans consider 'traditional'. This book didn't make my children gay or indoctrinate them as I was already teaching them to be accepting of others.

Beautifully written and illustrated book about a real set of penguins at Central Park zoo. Book was in very good condition.

When I bought this book I had read it before. I loved the story I loved the cute penguins but I also loved how this book taught love and acceptance. At first I was a little worried to show it to my administrators at work (I work at a preschool) but they all LOVED it and were raving about it! I had the book for a few short weeks. It was the most loved book of the classroom. All the kids loved tango, so much so when they see a penguin it's not a penguin it's tango. The kids are to young to understand the part of tango having two daddies. But they do know that the daddies love tango. This book teaches them at a young age that love is love and Roy and silo love tango, and that's all that matters. I'm ashamed to say the book has since been lost, I had it in a special spot and when I returned from vacation it had vanished. No where to be found. I have a coworker who is religious and known for taking books with themes he doesn't believe in. Sad thing is I bought this book with my own money. It's a lovely look and I hope you and your children can enjoy this book together.

This picture book has been banned in many states. It is a true story of two male penguins who hatched an egg and raised a baby penguin. Yes, you read that correctly - A TRUE STORY I buy this book for every baby shower that I attend.

I recently bought a shirt that says "I'm With The Banned" and has 17 book titles on it. I've read 9 of them. So now I'm working through the rest. I went ahead and knocked this one out because it took me literally 5 minutes. It is a children's book about two male Penguins named Roy and Silo who live at the Central Park Zoo and are in love. They do everything like the other penguin couples. But they couldn't make an egg. Another couple had an extra egg that they couldn't take care of so the zookeeper gave that egg to Roy and Silo. They cared for the egg and became parents to Tango and the family of three lived happily ever after. It is absurd to me that this book is banned. Gay couples exist and can be just as loving as straight ones. This book is sweet and I love that it promotes that all kinds of loving families can exist. If I had a child, I would read it to them at bedtime.