Ages: 4-8
The Queen is tired of ruling. She decided that it is time for her son to marry and take over the kingdom. The Queen calls princesses from near and far to meet her son. He meets five princesses, but is not impressed by any of them. When the last princess comes in, something catches his eye. However, it is not the princess, but instead her brother. Will the two princes marry and rule the kingdom together? Find out in King and King.
King and King is also a controversial book about gay relationships. I found this book to be more controversial than And Tango Makes Three. Because the relationship between the son and the other prince was not discussed, and because there did not seem to be any problems with the two princes marrying each other, I think some people may find this to be sending the wrong message. I also find the last picture to be controversial. It is a picture of the two princes kissing with a heart over their mouths. Some parents would not want their children reading about this topic and seeing a picture of two men kissing in school. I think it should be up to parents to decide if they want to expose their child/children to this book. If a teacher was to teach his/her class about the topic of sexual orientation, I think there are other books that would be better for discussing this controversial topic. Although I found this book to be controversial, it does send the message that supportive and loving families will accept family members even if they are gay or lesbian. The text in this book is simple and easy to read. The text is often changing sizes, is bolded, and is placed in unique places on the page. The illustrations were colorful and detailed. Each page looked like a collage. As a future teacher, I would not feel comfortable using the book King and King to teach the controversial issue of gay relationships.
When I read this book, I had a lot of similar feelings that you did. I really liked "And Tango Makes Three", but I was less enthused about this one. Jen mentioned that this book was intended to be a fairytale, so a happy ending like this should be expected. However, I was a little uncomfortable with some aspects. I would be willing to expose my own children to this book, but I am not sure if would use this book as a read aloud in my classroom. The suggested kiss at the end would make many people uncomfortable, and I agree that this is an issue parents need to take an active role in discussing this with their children. I feel as though the role of the classroom teacher should not overstep into parenting. However, reading about alternative couples is something that teachers should be able to do to a certain extent. For example, "And Tango Makes Three" is a book that I would feel comfortable having in my classroom. I agree that the message of acceptance was an excellent aspect of this book, and that was my favorite element of "King & King". It was a "happy ending", and I liked how the Prince's family approached his relationship.
ReplyDeleteYou do a good job explaining why the book may be controversial to some people.
ReplyDeleteThis book will no doubt make some people uncomfortable. I would bet the source of this discomfort stems from religious beliefs which, as we all know, should not interfere with what we expose children to in a public school, much less be the sole reason for not exposing students to homosexual relationships.
Being exposed to a homosexual protagonist at a young age may help students (whether they are gay or straight themselves) develop a more accepting outlook towards homosexuals. I think creating as much of an understandings, non-discriminatory society as possible should be one of the main goals of teaching and it seems like banning this book from the classroom would send the wrong message.
You say you think the last picture is controversial because it shows two men kissing... if this the the main reason you would not have it in the classroom I would also urge you to consider removing any other books that include pictures of men and women kissing.
Although I agree that the role of teacher and parent in a child's life is different the classroom is not the child's home but rather a microcosm of the real world they are going to be a part of some day. Understanding that they are going to see things they may not agree with and learning how to respond to these things at a young age is a big part of why children are sent to school.