Milly And The Macy's Parade

The year was 1924, and a young immigrant girl named Milly, adjusting to her new life in the United States, and in New York City, was enjoying the hustle and hubbub of the holiday season. Visiting the Macy's department store every day after school, she was intimately acquainted with its many delights - the revolving doors, the moving escalators, the toy department! - and with many of its employees, her father amongst them. Discovering that many of the staff were down at the mouth, and missing the holiday traditions of their former countries, she had a bright idea: why didn't Macy's have a parade for their employees, one that would combine some of the old-world European traditions with those of the new? And so she sought out gruff but show more kind Mr. Macy, to make a suggestion...

Having greatly enjoyed Shana Corey's Mermaid Queen: The Spectacular True Story Of Annette Kellerman, Who Swam Her Way To Fame, Fortune & Swimsuit History!, I was quite excited to pick up this holiday tale, especially as Thanksgiving - the day which the Macy's parade was created to mark - is just around the corner. Unfortunately, I was a little less than impressed with Milly and the Macy's Parade, largely because I think the founding of this important New York tradition makes for such a fascinating story - how appropriate that an iconic American celebration comes out of the immigrant experience! - and this fictional treatment left me wanting so much more. I wanted to know more about the real workers, and which of their old-world customs, specifically, they brought to the parade. Even though I appreciated the fact that Corey is frank about the fictional nature of her story, in her brief afterward, I finished the book wishing that her treatment had been a non-fiction one instead.

Leaving that aside, this is still an appealing tale, one that celebrates the American experience - how America shapes immigrants, and how immigrants shape America - and the quintessential American holiday. It also features delightful artwork by Brett Helquist, the illustrator who worked on Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events. With the caveat that its fictional nature should be kept in mind, I would recommend this to young readers who are interested in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, or are looking for Thanksgiving titles. As some other reviewers have noted, it can be read together with Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade. show less

This book was adorable! There are so many reasons why I liked it. One reason was the font. It is so simple, but it stands out so much when it is surrounded by the red outline. I feel like the font really matches the illustrations in the story.
The other reason why I loved this book was because of Milly, the main character. She is absolutely fabulous! She has so much spunk, but she also is compassionate and kind. I love when she poses like a model, and I love how she bursts into Mr. Macy's office even though she's not supposed to be there. She's awesome.
The main idea of this story is that positivity works much better to motivate people than negativity does.

In 1924, Milly has recently moved to New York City from Poland with her parents. She loves the city--and especially Macy's department store--but her father and many of the other immigrant workers at Macy's are sad, particularly in the face of the coming holidays, because they miss the celebrations of their home countries. Milly (in an unlikely but nice turn) finds Mr. Macy and suggests that they put on a celebration that draws on the holiday traditions of the immigrants who work at Macy's. And thus the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (originally called the Macy's Christmas Parade) is born.

I enjoyed this picture book very much. The story is pleasant and a nice way to commemorate the fact that Macy's parade did originally feature immigrant show more employees of Macy's. The art is fantastic, with the styles and atmosphere of 1920s New York making a great showing. show less

A tribute to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, originally known as the Macy’s Christmas Parade, and event that is a New York City holiday tradition.
In this story, Milly is instrumental in Mr. Macy’s planning of a parade meant to be a celebration of the holiday season.

This narrative is very loosely based on fact . . . the parade, originally called the Christmas parade, did begin in 1924; the immigrants who worked in Macy’s department store did miss their homeland traditions; they got together and created an amalgam that is uniquely American.

And, lest the fiction completely overrun the facts, the author reminds the reader that the balloons made their first appearance in 1927 and that the parade has never missed a holiday show more season, except for being cancelled for three years during World War II when the rubber balloons were donated for scrap rubber for the war effort.

Celebrating family and tradition and home, the story touches a warm note in the hearts of all who have grown up enjoying the Macy’s parade. show less

There are three reasons that I like this book. The first reason I like this book is because of the illustrations. I think the illustrator does a marvelous job of including detailed images on each page to enhance the text. The illustrator uses grave detail as well as a variety of colors and similar color palettes on each page to make the illustrations consistent and engaging for the reader. The second reason I like this book is because of the central message of the story. I think the main focus of the book was ways to show the reader how the main character was trying to incorporate her traditions from Poland to the traditions of America. Therefore, I think the central message is to be proud of your traditions and just because you are in show more a different area or country does not mean that you need to lose your traditions. Just simply continue to practice them and even incorporate and create new ones. The third reason I liked this book is because it is inspired by the true story of the first Macy’s Day Parade. show less

The illustrations of this book were lovely. There is such solace in reading children's illustrated books. Thus, these few last days were special times to rest and enjoy art.

With a backdrop of immigrants in New York City, the author weaves the feelings of wanting to embrace America, while at the same time, longing for home and traditions of culture. The first Macy's day parade was held in 1924, taking place on Christmas, as this book illustrates, it was the Macy's employees who were the actual marchers.

Wearing brightly festive costumes of cowboys, clowns and ethic outfits from the country of origin, Macy's employees happily gave a wonder tone to the parade. Traveling with the marchers for the six-mile parade, were some of the animals show more from the Central Park Zoo.

The parade became a wonderful public relations adventure for Macy's, while also enbracing the joy of New York City. show less

I thought this was a great book that taught the reader how the popular Macy’s Day Parade came into existence. The first reason I liked this book is because of the bright and detailed illustrations. The cover of the book draws the reader in immediately with all of the vivid colors and characters depicted. The illustrations of the setting are very similar to what New York actually looks like, and the illustrations also greatly depict what New York looks like during the holiday season. The second reason I liked this book is because it incorporated the true history of how the Macy’s Day Parade was formed within a fun fictional story. The reader learns about how Polish workers immigrated to America and were sad that they weren't able to show more celebrate their traditions, and they also hear the fictional story about a bold little girl named Milly and her family. I love watching the Macy’s Day Parade, so it was interesting to learn about its history in a comprehensible format. I believe there are two main idea of this book: be proud of your traditions and incorporate them wherever you go, and to provide the reader with information about the history of the Macy’s Day Parade. show less