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Storm anticipated after children's book takes on "gay marriage"
Uncle Bobby's Wedding
New book explains the complexities of Civil Partnerships to children
"There is concern that, as with books such as And Tango Makes Three, the story of a penguin with same-sex parents, there will be a parental outcry"
It's the story of a little guinea pig who becomes worried after her uncle announces at a family picnic that he's about to tie the knot with his male guinea pig friend. She's not worried about the fact that two male guinea pigs are setting up house together (children tend to be much less concerned about that sort of thing than their parents), she just needs reassurance that her uncle will still want to see her after his big day.
It all sounds innocent enough, but the publishers of Uncle Bobby's Wedding, which comes in the wake of same-sex marriage being legalised in California, are expecting the usual suspects to be (as usual!) up in arms. Although Uncle Bobby's Wedding does what many children's books do - allay children's fears about change - and despite the fact that the same-sex nature of the marriage is never discussed (the two male guinea pigs both wearing tuxedos to their wedding says it all), there is concern that, as with books such as And Tango Makes Three, the story of a penguin with same-sex parents, there will be a parental outcry.
That book was based on the true story of two male penguins who hatched an egg together and brought up the chick. Parent pressure secured its removal from many American school libraries.
