Just before we took off for the weekend, word went out that public librarians in Savannah, Mo., reclassified And Tango Makes Three, an ALA notable children’s book with starred reviews from PW, Booklist, and School Library Journal, as nonfiction. Which in some respects is perfectly understandable, since co-author Justin Richardson has freely admitted it’s based on a true story: “No one will be able to say this isn’t true. And the truth of the story will melt many hearts. It’s tough to look at this adorable family and think it would be wrong to tell a child about them.”
Well, two parents in Missouri managed to work up the strength to think so, informing the librarians in Savannah that the story of two male penguins “adopting” an abandoned egg and raising the hatchling together made them uncomfortable. So now, according to the librarian quoted in the AP, the book’s been refiled there’s less chance the subject matter will “blindside” parents who don’t want heart-melting reality to intrude into the stories they tell their kids.