And Tango Makes Three

 Richardson, J., & Parnell, P. (2005). And Tango Makes Three. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Lexile Score: AD720L

Summary: Two male penguins at a zoo have found love and they just want to be like the other penguin couples and raise an egg of their own. This is exactly what they do. They are given their own egg by the zoo keeper and care for it as their own. It’s a wonderful story about love and family no matter what the family makeup is.

Evaluation: Looking at the main lifestyle in this story, you get a diverse family structure, which is important to show children. Children with this same family structure will realize that they really aren’t the only ones and it’s okay to have a unique family structure because everyone’s is different. The stereotypes are broken in this story, which makes this book extra special.

The storyline is simple, but effective. It goes through the process of having a baby penguin even if the parent penguins are both males. It also talks about coupled penguins and other zoo animals that are heterosexual not just homosexual family structure. The family relationships are definitely shown with great variety.

The only conflict that is presented is that Roy and Silo aren’t able to have an egg of their own like the rest of the penguin couples. Later in the story, the conflict gets completely resolved and has a happy ending with Roy, Silo, and their baby, Tango. It engages children with a positive theme in a way that I admire for young students to be introduced.   

Literary Elements: Theme- And Tango Makes Three teaches us that anyone can have love towards something/someone no matter what the gender. There is also a lot of love towards their son, Tango.

Illustrations- The illustrations truthfully depict a real zoo, with real people of all different races and backgrounds. The illustrations also really paint a beautiful image of what love for one’s family is and truly engages children more into the story because of it.  

Onomatopoeias- You can really hear the first conversation between the parent penguins (Roy and Silo) and their child (Tango) through the onomatopoeias like peep and squawk.

Mini Lesson: I’d have a mini lesson on this story’s theme. It’d be great to do this lesson during a family unit where you, as a teacher, give examples to how all families are different and that’s okay. Discuss what theme is, what this particular theme is, and what the lesson to be taken away from this story might be.

Target Audience: K-3 because most children above the 3^rd grade would most likely toss this book aside seeing as how it deals with love and affection. The topic is better to address at a young age anyways.