And Tango Makes Three

Title: And Tango Makes Three

Author: Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell

Illustrator: Henry Cole

Publisher: http://kids.simonandschuster.com/

Publication Date: 2005

Genre: Picture Book, Nonfiction, Animals

Audience: Gr. 3-5

Awards: The ASPCA Henry Bergh Children’s Book Award

Overview: This book is about a homosexual penguin couple. The book starts out talking about all the different families that exist in the Central Park Zoo. Then the book zooms in on the Penguin house where there exists a family different then any other in the zoo. Roy and Silo are two male penguins that do everything together and it’s not long until their trainer realizes that Roy and Silo have created a nest and are trying to fertilize a rock. Their trainer decides to give Roy and Silo an extra egg and see what happens. Roy and Silo successfully hatch the egg, and Tango the penguin is born. Tango was the first penguin in the Central Park Zoo to have two fathers.

Activity: An activity you could do with this book is to have the students spotlight their own families. Have them bring in pictures of their own family and give a presentation detailing the members of their own family, stressing that every family is different, and that is a good thing. This book could also be tied to a science lesson on Penguins.

Reviewer’s Name: Paige Martin