roy, silo, & tango

And Tango Makes Three. Ah, I've been meaning to read this book for months. I've heard so much about it. how inappropriate it is, how it's not suitable for children. And you know what? Yeah, it's a sensitive subject but, like...they're penguins. Are we seriously trying to shelter our children from the taboo and potentially dangerous love of two penguins? Gosh, when I finished this book, I just kind of sat there. I thought it was so well-done (although perhaps the message was a little obvious). We pretty much just get the honest, observation-based account of the behavior of two male penguins in the Central Park Zoo. Of course, the authors make sure to compare everything in the book so that we understand that Roy & Silo are comparable to any other couple, any other family. I like that Richardson and Parnell don't give any other name to what transpires between Roy & Silo but love. That kind of keeps it simple and keeps focus. These two little penguins try so hard to be like everyone else but they just can't. I think that's an important point somehow. It's not as if the author is saying that homosexuality is the same as heterosexuality, but, rather, another thing that makes us beautifully diverse. It isn't until the zookeepers give the two penguins Tango's egg that they are able to become a family. And in the end I think the reader's supposed to see that a couple like Roy & Silo can be a functioning/contributing and successful part of society if given the chance. And that Tango's family does and needs the same things as everyone else's, even if it is a little different. There's also some neat non-fiction information in the back of the book about the penguins and their home in the zoo.
Oddly, the thing I was most unimpressed with about this book were the illustrations by Henry Cole. They're certainly not bad by any means, they just didn't wow me. My eyebrows raised even higher when I read his little bio in the back flap that I think described him as something like "an extremely incredible and versatile" illustrator or something. But Tango is quite adorable. There's no arguing with that.