And Tango Makes Three
First edition cover of And Tango Makes Three
|
|
| Author | |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Henry Cole |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's literature |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing |
|
Publication date
|
April 26, 2005 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 32 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 55518633 |
| [E] 22 | |
| LC Class | PZ10.3.R414 Tan 2005 |
And Tango Makes Three is a 2005 children's book written by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson and illustrated by Henry Cole. The book is based on the true story of Roy and Silo, two male chinstrap penguins in New York's Central Park Zoo. Roy and Silo made a nest together and went about every aspect of their lives like a typical couple, except they could not have offspring. Mr. Gramsay, the zookeeper gifted them an extra egg from another penguin couple at the zoo. Roy and Silo took turns sitting on the egg and eventually it hatched. The female chick was named "Tango" by the zookeepers.
The book has won many awards, including the ALA Notable Children's Book Nominee in 2006, the ASPCA Henry Bergh Book Award in 2005, and was one of the Bank Street Best Books of the Year in 2006.And Tango Makes Three has also been at the center of numerous censorship and culture war debates on same-sex marriage, adoption, and homosexuality in animals. The ALA reports that And Tango Makes Three was the most frequently challenged book from 2006 to 2010, except for 2009 when it was the second most frequently challenged.
At the Central Park Zoo, in 1998, the zookeeper noticed two chinstrap penguins who seemed to be especially fond of each other. The penguins would call for each other and complete the typical mating rituals that penguin couples usually completed. The biggest difference between them and the other penguins was that the two penguins, Roy and Silo, were both males. The homosexual pair was then seen by zookeeper, Robert Gramsay, building a nest and placing a rock in the nest—seen as an effort to hatch an egg. Gramzay said that he never saw the pair complete a sex act, but the two did engage in mating rituals like entwining their necks and vocalizing to one another.
After observing Roy and Silo's attempt at hatching a rock as an egg, the zoo staff at the Central Park Zoo provided an extra egg from another heterosexual couple to Roy and Silo for them to have as their own. After thirty-four days of Roy and Silo taking care of the egg, the baby penguin finally broke out of its shell. Roy and Silo then began taking care of a female baby penguin that the staff of the Central Park Zoo named Tango. After six years of their relationship, Silo left Roy for a female penguin named Scrappy. Roy continued raising Tango by himself as Silo continued to mate with his new female partner. Tango eventually grew up and began to mate with her homosexual female partner Tazuni.
...
Wikipedia