Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade

There's something that is especially compelling to me about a book that is both written and illustrated by one person. Balloons Over Broadway is such a story and Melissa Sweet is such an author/illustrator.

Sweet uses scraps to make her book, scraps of stories and scraps of real objects and even scraps of words, and these add an extra fun layer of realism to her gentle illustrations and tale. Sweet takes charge of the book, always surprising the reader by flipping the perspective and adding real maps and marionettes to the margins.

A wonderful book.

Top 100 pick because:

Well written, keeps in touch with the whimsy and magic of Tony Sarg both in narrative and in illustrations. A fun read and thoroughly enjoyable. I also learned quite a bit about the origins of the Macy's day parade, even though I no longer watch it. The way Sweet developed the storyline and wove the illustrations and narrative together almost reminds me of the planning and care Tony put into his life and work.

Winner of the 2012 Robert F. Sibert Medal, awarded annually to the best informational children's title published that year, this beautifully-illustrated picture-book biography follows the story of Tony Sarg, the puppeteer and marionette-maker who created the very first floating balloon characters for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. From his childhood as a toy collector and tinkerer, to his days as one of the foremost puppeteers of his day - in a wonderful example of traditions being passed on, one of Sarg's apprentices was responsible for the marionette theater in the film The Sound of Music, and his apprentice was Muppets creator Jim Henson - Balloons Over Broadway chronicles Sarg's life-long devotion to his craft.

I read this at show more the same time as Shana Corey's Milly and the Macy's Parade, another picture-book dealing with the Thanksgiving Day Parade, and found it absolutely delightful! Informative, entertaining, with gorgeous mixed media and collage artwork, it is a worthy tribute to this wonderful holiday tradition. I appreciated all the little found objects that Melissa Sweet worked into her artwork, as well as the detailed author's note at the end of the book, and was glad to learn something about the artistic component of the parade, and the person responsible for it. Tony Sarg's statement, that he had never done any work in his life, was quite impressive - I suppose when we truly love something, it isn't really work to us. show less

This book had me with their illustrations. I think that having bright colors keeps kids interested. This book is about how the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade originated. It also included the actual images of the first balloons used in the parades. This book taught me something new that I never even knew I wanted to know! I loved that this book introduced who was behind making this parade and how it evolved through the years.

“I have never done a stroke of work in my life,” declared the creator of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Tony Sarg. Although Tony never thought he did any work, the creativity and impressiveness of the famous parade is a direct product of Tony’s passion and ingenuity. Started in 1924, the self-taught puppeteer Tony was recruited by Macy’s to aid in creating a parade for their immigrant workers that would remind them of home. Every year, the parade grew into a more extravagant affair that continues even today.

Sweet won the Sibert Medal for this book, and it’s easy from the very first page to see why: she uses a mix of gouache, mixed media, and collages to create enchanting illustrations. Many pages have a mixture of all show more three; along with her beautiful paintings, there might also be a collage of Tony’s plans and a replica of Tony’s puppet. For readers, each page provides an opportunity to point out the different kinds of art Sweet uses and typically, every page reveals something new the next time it’s looked at. Although Tony Sarg certainly lived an interesting enough life to make a book about him exciting to read, Sweet’s ingenious use of illustrations perfectly illustrate the ambitions of a man who often is forgotten, even if we see the fruits of his labor year after year. Highly recommended. Grades 1-5. show less

I absolutely loved this book. I learned so much about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade which I have been watching since I was a child. Learning about Tony Sarg and his puppeteer and marionette skills was a delight. The illustration was perfectly done, incorporating real elements along with illustrated elements. There were even real newspaper articles about the event. I enjoyed how the book was not afraid to show failure. The parade started as a celebration for their immigrant workers with live animals and floats, then rubber balloons, and then finally to the helium monstrosities we are used to today! He kept being challenged to create new things and his apprentices have gone on to create puppets such as those in "The Sound of Music" show more and "The Muppets!" show less

I really like how this book was laid out. There was quite a bit of information but the pictures and the different layouts/sketches of his designs made it more fun. I think the author's note was a nice touch, to show what has happened after he passed away. I also liked the original newspaper ad for the balloons he made. This is one of the most enjoyable nonfiction books I have read and would definitely use this in a class.