And Tango Makes Three

Medium: Literature

Artist: Henry Cole (illustrator), Peter Parnell (writer), and Justin Richardson (writer)

Confronting Bodies: Parents of students, Peter Gorman (superintendent), and Bill James (County Commissioner)

Dates of Action: 2006

Location: Charlotte, North Carolina

Description of Artwork: And Tango Makes Three is a picture book based on Central Park Zoo’s two male penguins that raised an egg together. The penguins are shown to display mating habits, and are humanized.

The Incident: Parents had talked with Gorman about And Tango Makes Three, and Bill James also took issue with the book after reading online articles. This followed other states’ schools and libraries retaining And Tango Makes Three even after challenges. No formal challenge was filed.

Results of Incident: And Tango Makes Three was removed from the four school libraries that had the book following a review committee approving the decision to pull the book. Those in Charlotte could still check out the book from Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s public library that retained the book after challenges.

Source: Huh, Nam Y. "School chief bans book on penguins." The Boston Globe. The Boston Globe, 20 December 2006. http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/12/20/schools_chief_bans_book_on_penguins/