Conservative Christians in the USA are on the warpath again- this time their target is award-winning children's picture book, And Tango Makes Three. It's about Tango, a penguin chick, and her two adoptive dads. For once, my folks beat me to it. I was on the phone exchanging season's greetings when my Dad happened to mention that they'd brought my three-year-old nephew a wonderful tot's picture book about a baby penguin chick named Tango, and her two dads, called And Tango Makes Three. Nephew loves it, and is constantly asking his mum (my sister) and nanna to read it to him. Curious, I decided to Google it. Lo and behold, there was a small person's picture book of the same title. It's about Roy and Silo, two male penguins who raise the aforementioned Tango. Is this just LGBT propaganda for toddlers, though? Well, no. It's won a string of children's book awards in the United States, from the American Library Association, Henry Bergin and Gustavus Myer Children's Book Awards, the Bank Street Best Book of the Year, and Cooperative Children's Book Council Choice. Needless to say, the Christian Right is throwing a temper tantrum over this, despite the book's obvious quality as an educational resource. In Shiloh, Illinois, a school superintendant refused to ban it, although in Charlotte, North Carolina, one Peter Gorman, superintendant of Charlotte-Mecklenberg Schools, did so on December 20th, although happily, not without controversy over alleged procedural irregularities. Happily, it looks like our own libraries do support quality children's literature that also depicts family diversity. And Tango Makes Three can be borrowed from public libraries in Ashburton, Dunedin, Palmerston North, Rotorua, South Waikato, Tasman, Taupo, Tauranga and Waimakariri. Even conservative children's author Agnes Mary Brooke can't whinge about this one, given the number of awards that And Tango Makes Three has already won. For those wishing to add their own public library to the list, here are the details: And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell. Published by Simon and Schuster Books for Children, in New York, 2005. ISBN 0689878451 Craig Young - 28th December 2006