Book on Penguins Tops `Challenged' List

Not all penguin stories are equal in the public's mind.

And Tango Makes Three, an award-winning children's book based on a true story about two male penguins who raised a baby penguin, topped the American Library Association's annual list of works attracting the most complaints from parents, library patrons and others.

"And Tango Makes Three," by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, was published in 2005 and named by the ALA as one of the year's best children's books. But parents and educators have complained that "Tango Makes Three" advocates homosexuality, with challenges reported in Southwick, Mass., Shiloh, Ill., and elsewhere.

The ALA defines a "challenge" as a "formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness." For every challenge listed, about four to five go unreported, according to the library association. Krug said 30 books were actually banned last year.

"Books aren't banned nearly as much now as they used to be, because communities are much more active in fighting that," Krug said about the bans, which can lead to books being removed from both school and public libraries.