I Know It When I See It

They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and that has broad application. As a reusing recycler (and ex-wife), I’m particularly glad that things deemed unfit or no longer valuable in one situation can have life and value beyond it. But the dividing lines still have a bit of the arbitrary to them, I think. It’s all a matter of perspective, isn’t it? I wrote recently about And Tango Makes Three, the true story of two male penguins at the Central Park Zoo raising a baby from an adopted egg and also the most banned and challenged book of the last five years. Not one word in the book contradicts common Christian theology (in fact, it’s pretty innocuous even for a children’s book), but it has been thoroughly vilified as “shocking,” “obscene,” and “not suitable for children” because it “contradicts Christian values.” Which is odd since the story is about animals with no agenda and is reported by authors who were just observing. Given that, consider this: the book that was the 1993 American Booksellers Association’s Book of the Year and the winner of the 1993 International Reading Association’s Children’s Book Award is a fictional account of the beginning of the world where animals anciently pre-date humans, animism is central, and God is referred to as “she”--all problematic and contradictory for Christian theology. So, what’s up with that? It’s not that I didn’t like Douglas Wood’s Old Turtle. It’s just that I think the penguins got a bad rap.

http://www.amazon.com/Old-Turtle-Douglas-Wood/dp/0938586483

http://www.douglaswood.com/