Book Review: And Tango Makes Three
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell was the most banned book of 2006 according to the ALA. Now, I can see why some folks may not like this cute story about a couple of male chinstrap penguins who hatch an egg and raise the chick together, but if they don’t like it, they don’t have to read it. That will not, however, change the fact that the book is based on a true story. A true story with a very high “awwww” factor, in my not so humble opinion. Yes, Roy, Silo, and Tango are real penguins that live in New York’s Central Park Zoo. I wonder how long penguins live. I’d like to visit this zoo (which was mentioned in Meg Cabot’s Princess Dairies by the way) and I’m not sure how long it will be before I can make it out there.
Henry Cole, the illustrator for this book, did an excellent job making each page visually interesting. Many of the pages have the same basic colors, so it must have been quite the challenge for him to add enough movement and body language among the penguins to accomplish this. The faces he drew for the penguins are very expressive, as you can see from the cover. The penguins do not speak for themselves in this book. The reader must rely on narration and the illustrations to understand what is going on. The authors do just as good a job with their end of things as the illustrator does with his. Apart from being a cute story, this book has teaches tolerance for non-traditional families and I feel that it does it well.
To sum up: This controversial book tells its story in a way that should be easy enough for anyone to understand. It is well written and entertainingly illustrated. Read it. Tell your friends about it. Annoy the folks who try to keep it from you.
And Tango Makes Three, Justin Richardson, Peter Parnell, Henry Cole
October 5th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
People who are offended by this book…I just feel very sorry for them.
I’ve read this, too, and it’s good!
October 7th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
Aren’t the pics cute, emma?