The library board voted to retain the book both times. Another parent also claimed the book should be labeled or removed as being too young for sexuality and that when the penguins 'slept together,' it was referencing sex. Maryland - Calvert County - Parent requested the book be placed in a section for 'alternative or non-traditional families'. School board voted 6 to 1 to keep the book in circulation. Iowa - Ankeny - parents at local elementary school asked it be restricted for parental check out.

A committee reviewed the decision claiming policy on challenged books were not followed.Ĭalifornia - Lodi Public Library - resident challenged, claiming its 'homosexual story line that has been sugarcoated with cute penguinsĬalifornia - Chico - Three parents complained the book was unsuitable for young children. North Carolina - Charlotte - Superintendent Peter Gorman of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools ordered the book be removed from school libraries. Missouri - Rolling Hills - book moved to nonfiction section by Library Director Barbara Read after parent complains of gay themes. Joseph after parents complained it had homosexual overtones. Missouri - Moved from children's fiction to nonfiction in Savannah and St. Illinois - Shilo - Parents at Shiloh Elementary School requested the book be allowed checked out with parental permission, but the superintendent vetoed the matter.

Think about that when you read, that humans can learn a lot about forming families. It's no more an argument in favor of human gay relationships than it is a call for children to swallow their fish whole or sleep on rocks.' That being said, the book is also not a call against homosexuality in any way, simply enforcing that families come in all shapes and sizes.

That being said, 'senior penguin keeper Rob Gramzay said that he never saw the pair complete a sex act, but the two did engage in mating rituals like entwining their necks and vocalizing to one another.' Co-author Justin Richardson also said “We wrote the book to help parents teach children about same-sex parent families. The idea about comparing penguin love to human love has been found ludicrous by some, which is a pretty good argument because penguins don't have higher brain functions. Some parents and other adults who should stop trying to raise other peoples kids have objected to children reading a book about homosexuality, misreading the whole point of the book entirely.

Justin richardson and peter parnell