Takes Two to Make a Tango

This is my Fahrenheit 451.

To this day I have a hard time understanding the minds of people who ban and challenge books. You do not like it? Great. There are another 4 billion books out there. Find one you do like. But do not tell me I cannot read a book.

Justin Richards, Peter Parnell and Henry Cole came together to make And Tango Makes Three. The story is a true story about two penguins in the New York Central Zoo. These two love birds built a nest together and raised a chick. But they were not your traditional penguin family. They were two dads and a little chick named Tango. This story is about love. This story is about family. So, it does not look like your family. That is okay. Neither does mine. I grew up with my grandparents and uncle living upstairs and my great-uncle and my family downstairs. I remember the year a classmate said they were going to New Jersey to see their grandparents for the holidays. My thought? You mean you don’t just put on slippers and go upstairs?

The illustrations alone are a must for this book. I could read them all day. They capture the colors of the place and the feel of the book. They are whimsical and realistic. Cole has created a lovely piece of art to complement the art of the text.

Banned and challenged books are a passion of mine. Some of the classics we read for school are on the most challenged/banned lists (To Kill a Mockingbird). Childhood favorites (Little House on the Prairie). Even tools we need (The Webster’s Dictionary). And I want everyone to know that: Yes. I proudly read banned books (and in this case, reread).