Jacob's Missing Book
At bedtime, Jacob chooses “the penguin book” (clearly a reference to And Tango Makes Three), adding that he wanted to read a copy at school but couldn’t find it in the library. The next day, he asks his teacher if they can have it at story time. His teacher explains that she can’t read it to them because, “Some people are unhappy with the books we have in our library and classrooms … While the school is trying to figure that out, some of the books have been taken away. The penguin book is one of them.” Jacob and his classmates want to know more but his teacher explains that’s all she can say. The kids briefly speculate at lunch about what could be wrong, a discussion that inspires them to play a recess game in which they pretend to be nesting penguins. This purposeful story excels at staying child-centered while addressing book censorship impacting younger school-age children, who try to make sense of a vague (to them) situation in a totally childlike way–one that has them moving on to playing penguin. The story also shows (rather than tells) the awkward position such situations put educators in, as well as the impact on a child in a family with two dads who is briefly upset by what’s happening before being comforted by both the teacher and Jacob. ©2025 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
Illustrated by Chris Case
CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 6-9
Age Range:
PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7)
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Format:
Picture book
Subjects:
Books and Reading
Libraries and Librarians
School
Diversity subject:
Multicultural General
Gender Nonconformity
Publisher:
Magination
Publish Year: 2024
Pages: 32
ISBN: 9781433844584
CCBC Location: Picture Book, Hoffman