Why Is And Tango Makes Three Banned? A Factual Content Breakdown
March 9, 2026
And Tango Makes Three has been one of the most challenged picture books for over 15 years. Here is what it actually contains.
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell has appeared on the American Library Association's most challenged books list for more than fifteen years. It is one of the most frequently challenged picture books in ALA records — notable because most challenged books are aimed at teenagers, not young children.
The book is based on a documented, true event.
Format: Children's picture book. Intended for ages 4–8.
What ParentsPick Found
LGBTQ identity — present (high confidence) The book depicts two male chinstrap penguins, Roy and Silo, who formed a bonded pair at the Central Park Zoo in New York. A zookeeper gave them a fertilized egg to hatch and raise together. The book depicts the two male penguins as a couple raising a chick named Tango. LGBTQ identity is the central subject of the book.
Sexual content — present (medium confidence) The database flags sexual content at medium confidence with an important clarification: the book introduces the concept of same-sex relationships in an age-appropriate manner. The flag reflects the presence of a same-sex relationship, not explicit content. The analysis notes explicitly that the book does not contain sexual content in the conventional sense.
What the Book Does Not Contain
And Tango Makes Three contains no sexual content, no profanity, no violence, and no frightening content. Two penguins raise a chick together. The entire book is about that.
The challenge record is unusually straightforward for this reason: the sole objection across fifteen years of ALA documentation is the depiction of a same-sex pair as parents.
Why It Has Been Challenged
Every formal challenge to And Tango Makes Three recorded in ALA data cites the same reason: the depiction of a same-sex animal couple raising a chick together. The concern is not about content that is violent, sexual, or age-inappropriate in any conventional sense. It is about whether a picture book for four-to-eight-year-olds should depict same-sex parents at all.
That is the entirety of the objection. There is nothing else in the book to object to.
Parents who have challenged the book have generally argued that introducing children to same-sex family structures at that age is a decision that belongs to individual families, not to school libraries or classroom bookshelves. Parents who have defended the book have argued the opposite: that a true story about two penguins at a New York zoo is an appropriate and gentle introduction to the reality that families come in different forms.
The True Story Behind the Book
Roy and Silo were real penguins at the Central Park Zoo. Their bond was observed and documented by zoo staff. The fertilized egg they were given hatched into a chick named Tango — also real. The zookeepers' role in the story is depicted in the book.
Roy and Silo later separated — Silo bonded with a female penguin, Roy did not form a new bond — a detail that postdates the book's publication and is not included in it.
The book is a factual account of something that happened, written for children.
What "Banned" Means Here
And Tango Makes Three has been removed from some school library shelves and some classroom collections. It has been retained in many more. Public libraries have generally kept it available. It is sold in mainstream bookstores and is widely available.
No challenge decision applies nationally. A removal in one district affects only that district.
How to Use This Information
The book depicts two male penguins raising a chick. That is what is in it. Whether that depiction belongs in your child's school library or on your family's bookshelf is your decision to make.
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