There apparently is a new threat facing elementary-school children: gay penguins. Cindy and James Dacus are fighting to restrict access to the children's book "And Tango Makes Three" at East Elementary School in Ankeny. The book is the story of two male penguins who raise a chick together.
The Ankeny parents want it either removed or moved to the parents-only section, arguing that it promotes homosexuality and same-sex couples as normal and that children are too young to understand the subject. So far school officials have denied that request, so the couple is appealing to the school board.
The board should support the school's decision to leave the book in open circulation in the school library.
A library that has a book about two male penguins taking care of a little penguin isn't promoting homosexuality. And a school with a library that has that book isn't promoting a specific lifestyle either - no more than a library having "The Chocolate War" amid thousands of other books promotes the idea that teens should rebel against the establishment by refusing to sell chocolates at a school fundraiser.
Libraries - all libraries - should provide as vast an array of books as possible for all children.
Succumbing to one couple's wishes to restrict access to a book is unfair to all the other children in the school. Worse, removing it would send a message that it's not OK to learn about, let alone be a part of, a "different" type of family.
Not to mention that "And Tango Makes Three" is based on a true story about two male penguins at the New York Zoo who raised a baby penguin. It's an award-winning book, named one of the year's best children's books in 2005 by the American Library Association.
The beauty of books is they make students think, stimulate conversation and offer a glimpse into lives that are otherwise unfamiliar. A book about a penguin family with two daddies isn't "risky," as these Ankeny parents have said.
It's simply another of the thousands of books that children - and parents - could read to expand their view of the world.
