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/

It Takes Two To Tango

Some of my favorite authors have written banned or challenged books. J.D. Salinger, Mark Twain, Maya Angelou, Kurt Vonnegut, Justin Richardson, Peter Parnell. What’s that? You don’t recognize those last two names? That’s interesting, because they are the co-authors of the most challenged book of 2006, 2007 and 2008 and the most banned book of 2009. What kind of subject matter could possibly garner that kind of censure, you ask? Murder? Blasphemy? Corruption? War? Pornography? Racism? Impropriety of the biblical “knowing” kind? Nope, none of those. The book that parents, politicians and religious groups have most wanted off the shelves and out of the classrooms for nearly half a decade is about…drum roll, please…penguins. Yep, you read that right. The flightless, tuxedo-wearing birds. Not all of them, of course. Just three very specific ones in the Central Park Zoo who had the chutzpah to mess with some people’s view of the world, even though they were just being them. Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell’s And Tango Makes Three is the true story of two chinstrap penguins at the famous New York City landmark who spent six years together playing, loving and raising a daughter born from an adopted egg. And now you’re wondering why such a sweet (and did I mention true?) story would cause such a fuss. I’ll tell you, but you might not believe it. The problem is that both Roy and Silo were boy chinstrap penguins. That’s the truth. And some people just can’t handle the truth.

http://www.amazon.com/Tango-Makes-Three-Peter-Parnell/dp/0689878451

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Parnell

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Richardson