It Takes Two To "Tango"

Today we've added another childrens book to our collection (now we just have to chose which room will be the nursery and start storing everything in there), And Tango Makes Three. The book is based on the true story of Roy and Silo, two male Chinstrap Penguins in New York's Central Park Zoo who for a time formed a couple. The book follows part of this time in the penguins' lives. This book teaches children that it's okay to be in, or know, someone who has a "non-traditional" family.

The pair were observed trying to hatch a rock that resembled an egg. When zookeepers realized that Roy and Silo were both male, it occurred to them to give them the second egg of a mixed-sex penguin couple, a couple which had previously been unable to successfully hatch two eggs at once. Roy and Silo hatched and raised the healthy young chick, a female named "Tango" by keepers, together as a family.

The book has generated controversy among parents in some parts of the United States... actually, the American Library Association reports that And Tango Makes Three was the most challenged book of 2006. Earlier this month, the Washington Post printed Two Guys and a Chick Set Off Tiff Over School Library Policy, which covers the story of the book being pulled from library shelves in Loudoun County elementary schools this month after a parent complained that it promoted a gay agenda.