Posted on 11/17/2006 3:29:42 AM PST by rightwingintelligentsia
SHILOH, Ill. - A picture book about two male penguins raising a baby penguin is getting a chilly reception among some parents who worry about the book's availability to children - and the reluctance of school administrators to restrict access to it.
The concerns are the latest involving "And Tango Makes Three," the illustrated children's book based on a true story of two male penguins in New York City's Central Park Zoo that adopted a fertilized egg and raised the chick as their own.
Complaining about the book's homosexual undertones, some parents of Shiloh Elementary School students believe the book - available to be checked out of the school's library in this 11,000-resident town 20 miles east of St. Louis - tackles topics their children aren't ready to handle.
Their request: Move the book to the library's regular shelves and restrict it to a section for mature issues, perhaps even requiring parental permission before a child can check it out.
For now, "And Tango Makes Three" will stay put, said school district Superintendent Jennifer Filyaw, though a panel she appointed suggested the book be moved and require parental permission to be checked out. The district's attorney said moving it might be construed as censorship.
(Excerpt) Read more at kevxml2adsl.verizon.net ...
Imagine you gave this book to some kids, and then on further reflection took it away, on the grounds that it contained something 'inappropriate.' When I was that age, in that situation, the book would have stayed in my mind and perhaps I would have made an effort to find it again. Similarly, the tv shows kids really want to watch are the ones they aren't supposed to watch. On the other hand, if you leave a book like this in plain sight, it will never generate more mystique than a boring, mostly ignored picture book about a family of penguins deserves.
They will keep on trying to get to the kids to eventually get their way.
Children should read what they want, or whatever they pick up, and come to their own conclusions as they grow up
Making a big deal about a picture book with 'gay' penguins is stupid because anyone who politicizes the behavior of a couple of birds only makes himself looks ridiculous - and that goes for the authors of the book too
At that age kids should read what their parents want them to read. That's why God made parents :)
By the time I was eight, I knew what I liked and had some discretion
You had discretion because your parents permitted it. Like I said, if parents want to buy the book for their kids, fine by me. My problem is with teachers, school districts, and Viacom trying to shove their agenda down families' throats.
It's undeniable that homosexuality is present in various species. Take it to mean what you will.
My parents weren't overly concerned about these sorts of issues...
I always suspected that Opus was gay, or at least metrosexual...
It will be interesting to see which agenda wins out when the muslims and homosexuals clash as they each attempt to push their ideologies on this country.
They should re-read "The Emperor's New Clothes".
Pretending that the abnormal is normal does not make it so.
"Three Men and a Baby" was quite a popular movie about 20 years ago. Maybe Tom Selleck & Steve Guttenberg can reunite as penguins in the movie version of this true story?
"Three Men and a Baby" was quite a popular movie about 20 years ago. Maybe Tom Selleck & Steve Guttenberg can reunite as penguins in the movie version of this true story?
This story leaves out the fact that these two males were simply babysitting someone else's kid, after that the two males found females and had their own chicks. How would one apply this to, perhaps, bovines? OK, two bulls found a lone calf and proceeded to care for it, then the calf slowly starved to death for obvious reasons, end of lesson!
Opus was just a little insecure. ;)
That title had me all messed up. I wasn't sure if...
The book was about gay penguins...or, considering that Penguin Books is a publisher, it could have been (2) that the book's topic had something to do with gayness, or (3) the book itself, was gay, either in the sophmoric "that's gay" sense or in the literal sense that the book was actually gay, although to my knowledge books have genders, but then again, what do I know....
After reading the article, I realized that it was actually choice 4, all of the above. How gay.
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