And Tango Makes Three

Have you heard of the children's story And Tango Makes Three? If you haven't heard of it before, you have now. And you're likely to hear more about in the news as the book is making headlines. First, the Chicago Tribune says And Tango Makes Three is an "illustrated children's book based on a true story of two male penguins -- Roy and Silo -- in New York City's Central Park Zoo who adopted a fertilized egg and raised the chick as their own." Cute. Very Cute.

Of course, uber-conservative middle America has isssues about two male penguins raising a baby chick. Oh, I see. They must be gay! "Parents in Metro East community [in southern Illisnois] want gay penguin book blocked," or so the headline of the Chicago Tribune article says. We don't know that they're gay, and who cares if they are? The story is edible.

Parents at a local elementary school are trying to have the book moved to a restricted shelf within the school's library requiring parent permission to check it out. That's because they claim the book deals with "mature" issues. Fortunately, the local superintendent refuses to move the book saying, "My feeling is that a library is to serve an entire population. It means you represent different families in a society -- different religions, different beliefs. That's the role of a school library." Bingo.

Good for her. You can read the article here. You can buy the book here. You can bet SpyC will be adding it to her school library in the next few days.