About the Authors

Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell are the authors of the award winning picture book And Tango Makes Three. 

Richardson is a psychiatrist on the faculty of Columbia and Cornell and co-author of Everything You Never Wanted Your Kids to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask). His advice to parents has been featured in the New York Times and on Today, 20/20, and NPR's Morning Edition. 

Parnell is a playwright whose plays have been produced on and Off-Broadway whose most recent play, QED, was produced on Broadway. He was a co-producer of the television show The West Wing.  They live in New York City with their daughter, Gemma.

Together they both wrote the book Christian, the Hugging Lion which is based on a true story of two men from London who raise a baby cub and when he becomes too large to stay in London, bring to Africa.  


Synopsis

And Tango Makes Three is about a true story of two penguins who reside in the Central Park Zoo. These two penguins who do everything together. A watchful zookeeper, Mr. Gramzay, noticed the two penguins in love and witnessed how Roy and Silo saw the other penguins making homes and starting families by caring for their eggs. This is a modern day fairy tale about two male penguins at the Central Park Zoo and is a great lesson for families of all kinds. 

Grade Level

  • Independent Read: 3rd Grade
  • Read Aloud: Preschool 

 


Diversity / Opinion


This story embraces the differences between certain family structure and they're dynamics. It enables the readers to become familiar with the acceptance of others differences. 

I would give this story an A+. This story addresses the question of individuality. We wonder what distinguishes us from everyone else. This story encourages readers to embrace our differences and understand the importance of our families and how we are individually unique but together, in terms of our family structure, complete.


Activities

1.3.1.A: Read, understand, and respond to works of literature.
By introducing a book where a zoo keeper make a family feel like they matter and are included, we hope to engage students in a lesson about what it means to feel included and to matter.And Tango Makes Three is a story that details how a zookeeper tried to make two male penguins feel like they could have a family. This very touching and true moment justifies that all people should feel included. Students need to be aware that some folks within the classroom sometimes don't feel like they "matter," and in fact, feel "marginalized." By working with the definitions of "marginalizing" and "mattering," we'll explore scene deconstruction and inclusion. As a final note, we'll begin to design our class project - something that will make all students in the class feel welcome and included throughout the entire year.

S3.B.2.1.1: Identify adaptations of plants and animals that have helped them to survive.
Going to the Zoo -Pretend like we’re going to the zoo, we’ll pass around an empty bag and have each student pack an imaginary item that they’ll need to take with them to the zoo.
Animal motion - Have children stand in a circle and pass around an animal sound and motion. One person will make an animal sound and motion, and then everyone will repeat it back to them.
Summary Skits: (5-7 years old) Divide students into groups of three to six (depending on what part of the plot they’ll be retelling). The groups of six will either be reenacting the beginning section of the story, where Silo and Roy are not able to hatch their “egg”, the middle section where the Zoo Keeper realizes that they want to hatch an egg and gives them a real one, or the end of the book where Silo and Roy have hatched Tango. The students will act out a summary of their given scene, providing dialogue to get across feelings and interactions without a narrator. 

1.6.2.A: 

Listen actively and respond to others in small and large group situations.

Emotion Sculptures
Break students into groups of three. Each group will receive a paper telling them which character to act out, during a certain point in the plot:
  • 1. Roy when he meets Silo.
  • 2. Silo when he sees a penguin a couple with a baby.
  • 3. The zookeeper when he sees Roy and Silo with rock “egg”.
  • 4. Silo when they get real egg.
  • 5. Roy when Tango hatches.
  • 6. Tango when he’s hatched.
1.4.2.B: Write informational pieces using illustrations when relevant (e.g., descriptions, letters, single-topic reports, instructions).
Activities to do throughout the year- Define mattering, marginalizing, inclusion and how they work in the story. I would talk to my class about creating guidelines and activities that make everyone feel like they matter. I would design an affirmation project for the class. For example:
  • Have students create an affirmation notebook. This would be a collection of individual self-affirming worksheets that are compiled, created and done by the students throughout the year. Students can write positive things they feel about themselves and also write things in other people's notebooks if they notice positive behavior from another student. 
  • Create special mailboxes which will be set up for each students. Each student can write other anonymous notes about something positive they witnessed the student do or something they saw them do that they liked. 
  • Create a good deeds wall. Students can write post-its of different good deeds they have witnessed another student doing. 


Today

  • The two men heard the story of Roy and Silo, two male penguins in the Central Park Zoo, who hatched an egg together, through an article in The New York Times in 2004. 
  • The authors were trying to have a child when they read the Times article. Mr. Richardson said, "when we heard about the penguins going and getting a rock, we completely understood the urge to have a child."
  • When they read the story they said it sounded like a children's book so they sent out a book proposal through their agent.
  • Their daughter, Gemma was born in Massachusetts because the state allows both fathers' names on the birth certificate without an adoption process.
  • The two male chinstrap penguins had found each other in the big city and remained faithful. But then Silo started a relationship with a female from California named Scrappy. Roy has been seen alone, in a corner staring at a wall. No one is more disappointed than Rob Gramzay, the senior penguin keeper at the zoo.