Puss Reboots: Blog: August 2009: And Tango Makes Three

Recent posts

Reviews:
Adaptogenia by Wayne Wightman personal collection
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell library book
The Cat Barked? by Lydia Monks library book
Cat Skidoo by Bethany Roberts and RW Alley personal collection
City Above the Sea by Stephen Alan Saft review copy
City Lullaby by Marilyn Singer library book
Corona Centurion™ by Terry Bisson personal collection
Economancer by Carolyn Ives Gilman personal collection
A Field Guide to Monsters by Johan Olander library book
Grey Seas Under by Farley Mowat bookcrossing
Grimm's Grimmest by Tracy Arah Dockray bookcrossing
Grumpy Cat by Britta Teckentrup personal collection
Handy Farm Devices and How to Make Them by Rolfe Cobleigh bookcrossing
Harriet's Recital by Nancy Carlton personal collection
I Feel Skitty by Tracey West personal collection
Kin by Holly Black review copy
The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh bookcrossing
Mama, Don't Go by Rebecca Wells library book
No, Never! by Sally O. Lee review copy
Oh, the Things I Know! by Al Franken bookcrossing
Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper library book
Paradiso Lost by Albert E. Cowdrey personal collection
Project Anastrophe by George Karnikis review copy
The Publishing Game: Publish a Book in 30 Days by Fern Reiss bookcrossing
The Shipwreck of a Nation by H Peter Nennhaus review copy
Skim by Mariko Tamaki review copy
Sooner or Later or Never Never by Gary Jennings personal collection
Talk to the Hand by Lynne Truss bookcrossing
The Thirteenth Tale by Dianne Setterfield bookcrossing
The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop by Lewis Buzbee bookcrossing
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon library book
Yoko Writes Her Name by Rebecca Wells library book

Previous month

And Tango Makes Three: 08/31/09

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell has been the top on the list of the most challenged books in the United States in 2006, 2007 and 2008. When I saw it at my public library (yay!) I snatched it up to take home and read to my kids.

The book is based on facts. In 2000 Roy and Silo were given an egg from a two egg clutch knowing that the original parents had never successfully reared two eggs. Roy and Silo had been sitting on an egg shaped rock so the egg was given to them as a chance to let both eggs develop and for the two male penguins to be parents.

There is nothing overtly sexual or even biological about the way the story is told. The relationship between Roy and Silo boils down to "...Roy and Silo wound their necks around each other. Their keeper Mr. Gramzay noticed the two penguins and thought to himself, 'They must be in love.'" (p. 11).

Most of the story though is about families of all different types who either live at the zoo or come to visit the zoo. There is discussion (with lovely illustrations by Henry Cole) of the two penguins building a rock nest and watching their rock egg and later of Tango's egg hatching.

The language used in the book is completely appropriate for preschool and elementary school aged children. There's no agenda to the book; it's just a sweet story about families and penguins.