We heard about it on a Saturday night and were, like, “Okay, this is happening.” The story traveled around the world. The story got picked up by the AP (much thanks to a local news reporter who read the library’s log, looking for stories). For us, that was in Missouri, when a library director who had received complaints moved our book from the fiction to the (less browsed) nonfiction section in order not to “blindside” parents. Justin and Peter: I think you never forget the first challenge. Jules: Can you take me back to the first time you learned the book was challenged or banned in a school? At the same time, it’s been a great joy to see the way Tango has been embraced by children and their families all over. It’s kind of astonishing to think that we’ve found ourselves defending the book on BBC World News against the Singapore government’s plan to pulp it or watching, 17 years after its publication, the state of Florida rule that it can not be discussed in schools. But we could never have imagined then the extent of the challenges it would face or the strength of the support it would get around the world. Justin and Peter: We did anticipate that there would be some resistance to the book when we wrote it.

What has it been like all these years to hear repeated stories about its many challenges and bans across the country? Did you have any sense that this would happen? Justin and Peter join me today to talk about Florida’s new law - and much more. (My favorite thing of 2022 thus far is when they write: “Probably best to give a wide berth to all books featuring gendered heavy machinery, at least until we can figure out what’s what.”) Justin and Peter have had well over a decade to acclimate to book challenges but have some thoughts about Florida’s House Bill 1557, otherwise known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, even putting some of those thoughts into this Washington Post piece, addressed to K-3 teachers of Florida. (Listing all its many challenges would find me slumped over my keyboard into my old age, so I’ll just send you here at Tango’s Wikipedia entry if you’re so inclined to read about the frequent challenges to the book.) Since its publication, this picture book has been one of the most challenged books in America. The two pair-bond, build a nest, and eventually hatch an egg (thanks to help from a zookeeper).

It tells the warmhearted true story of two male Emperor Penguins, Roy and Silo, at the Central Park Zoo. It’s been 17 years since the publication of Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell’s And Tango Makes Three, illustrated by Henry Cole.

Peter parnell and justin richardson