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

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Sweet, Melissa. 2011. Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN: 978-0-547-19945-0.

 Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade is a biography of Anthony "Tony" Frederick Sarg, the man who designed the first balloons for Macy's parade. Even as a child he wanted to know how things moved which led to his designs for marionettes when he became an adult. R. H. Macy heard about the marionettes and asked Tony to design store window displays and later costumes for the parade which featured live animals. The animals scared children on the parade route, so Macy asked Tony to think of something new and he set to work designing a puppet unlike any other, a puppet that could float high in the sky!

Sweet tells Tony Sarg's story with enthusiasm, a delightful sense of fun, and wonderful watercolor illustrations combined with mixed media collages that suggest the materials and feel of Sarg's time period. Most of the more than forty million people around the world who watch the parade probably have no idea that it started as a parade for the employees of Macy's who were immigrants and "...missed their own holiday traditions of music and dancing in the streets." The parade was so well received that Macy's held it every year and the crowds continued to grow until floats became hard to see and and the live animals featured began frightening the children. Sarg was asked to design something new and soon he found inspiration "...from an Indonesian rod puppet in his toy collection." The "upside-down marionettes" were made in Ohio out of a rubberized silk that was filled with air and helium on the day of the parade and controlled by rope handlers much to the delight of the throngs lining the parade route. "It was a parade New Yorkers would never forget!" Since Thanksgiving Day in 1928, there have been only two years during WWII when amazing balloons haven't filled the sky over Broadway, thanks to the creativity and curiosity of Tony Sarg. The author's note, bibliography, and sources all offer resources for more exploration of this fascinating story for all ages to share and enjoy.


Melissa Sweet was awarded a Caldecott Honor Medal for A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams by Jen Bryant. She has illustrated nearly 100 children's books and received the following awards for Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade:
2012 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal Winner
2012 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
2012 Cook Prize honoring the best science, technology, engineering
and math (STEM) picture book
2012 The Flora Stieglitz Straus Award
2012 Jefferson Cup Award :: Virginia Library Association
2012 ALA Notable Book
New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading & Sharing
Texas Bluebonnet List
Learn more about Melissa Sweet at her website: http://melissasweet.net/.

"Sweet tells this slice of American history well, conveying both Sarg’s enthusiasm and joy in his work as well as the drama and excitement of the parade. . .This one should float off the shelves."—School Library Journal, starred review

“Tony Sarg, the man who invented the giant balloons of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, has found a worthy biographer in Caldecott Honoree Sweet. The rush that comes from inspiration, the cliffhanger moments of creation, the sheer joy of building something and watching it delight the multitudes—Sweet captures it all in what is truly a story for all ages"—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“This clever marriage of information and illustration soars high.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“A joyous piece of nonfiction that informs and delights in equal parts.”—Booklist, starred review
"Sweet’s whimsical mixed-media collages, embellished with little dolls she made herself out of odds and ends, reinforce the theme that, for Sarg, work was play."— Horn Book, starred review

So many connections can be made with this delightful book. Thanksgiving, puppet making, and storytelling all come to mind. I would pair Alison Jackson's  I Know an Old Lady who Swallowed a Pie with this book for an entertaining and silly look at the Macy's parade. Following is a list of a few sites I found that offer a plethora of activities for any library, classroom, or family to enjoy.

A wonderful activity kit can be accessed here: http://www.hmhbooks.com/kids/resources/BalloonsOverBroadway_ActivityKit.pdf.
An excellent discussion guide is available here: http://melissasweet.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/121.pdf.
More resources can be found here: http://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=27322&a=1.

Indie Bound. Editorial Reviews. http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780547199450. (Accessed October 19, 2013.)