This now-classic tale, based on the real-life story of two male penguins who adopt an egg, is worth the hype. For 2024, it is being reissued in a School and Library Edition with additional backmatter and special resources for educators. (It will also continue being available in a board book version without the backmatter, also available at the links above.)
Tango’s story has unfortunately been one of the most-challenged books in the country since shortly after it was published. (“Challenges” are requests for censorship, such as removing or restricting access to a book.) The new edition therefore includes a new section on “Your Freedom to Read” and a list of resources to help those fighting book bans. Also new are an Authors’ Note on the importance of books and libraries, an afterword by science journalist Eliot Schrefer on the prevalence of same-sex animal pairs and parents throughout the natural world, and a Note for Educators about reading the book with children of diverse family types.
Publisher Simon & Schuster will also soon have a more extensive online Educator Guide available, with lesson plans for using the book to teach themes of family, diversity, and love, across subject areas as diverse as social studies, science, language arts, and social-emotional learning. Each plan contains discussion questions and extension activities for children in one of several different age ranges: preschool through kindergarten, early elementary school, and upper elementary through middle school. (Non-teacher adults may find these useful, too, as they read and discuss the book with children.)
The charmingly told and illustrated story remains a favorite for good reason (though it would be wise to supplement it with stories about human LGBTQ families, too). The new backmatter should assist educators, parents, and others in helping new generations connect with it as well.
Here’s my 2022 interview with authors Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell.
