"And Tango Makes Three" by Ny Peter Parnell, Justin Richardson & Henry Cole

Banned Books in Conversation

Prof. Dr. Silvia Schultermandl

<p>In response to the steep increase in book banning and (attempted) censorship in the USA and beyond, the University of Münster’s Chairs for Book Studies (Prof. Dr. Norrick-Rühl) and American Studies (Prof. Dr. Schultermandl) have founded a "Banned Books Network Münster" (BBNM). Two postdoctoral researchers at the Chair of American Studies, Dr. Jennifer Gouck (2025 WiRe fellow) and Dr. Sarah Pyke, are co-founders of this initiative. Our purpose is to raise awareness of the increase in book banning, and to create space for engagement with banned books and the wider repercussions of these bans. Our events are inclusive in nature, and we hope to engage students, teachers, colleagues and the wider reading public with our initiative.</p><p>At the first event of this series, Prof. Dr. Silvia Schultermandl will speak about "And Tango Makes Three" (2005), a picture book about the true story of two male Central Park Zoo penguins who hatch an egg together. The book received the Children’s Book Award from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty towards Animals in 2005, was named one of the Bank Street Best Books of the Year 2006, and has simultaneously been featured on multiple banned books lists. In 2024, it was listed as the most banned picture book on the PEN American Index of School Book Bans.</p>

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