The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade (Bank Street College of Education Flora Stieglitz Straus Award (Awards))

The year that this charming and very informative book was being written, I had the pleasure of being called upon by the author, Melissa Sweet to lend some assistance and historical data on Tong Sarg, and the legendary Macy balloons. Having based years of archiving the history of Sarg and the balloons, as well as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade- together, we explored the fascinating history of the man know as "Macy's Mister Everything." Sarg's original association with RH Macy & Co. began as a designer of the now infamous Macy's Christmas Windows. From that amazing breakthrough came the call for a parade to welcome Santa to the City Of New York. Taking the place of live circus animals, Sarg developed a concept based upon his marionettes- only upside down. That first year, they were held aloft by giant dow-rods and rode on wheeled dollies and rolled down the street. In sympathy to the little ones lining the route, looking upward to see the giant toys, Sarg with the aid of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, in Akron, Ohio crafted the huge figures to be airborne with the assistance of helium. From the first inflated actor, Felix The Cat, New Yorkers and later, through the newsreels- the entire world fell in love with what would become the "signature" of the Macy parade- the gigantic figure balloons. Sarg staffer- later to become a legendary puppeteer Bil Baird aided in the design and painting of the balloons and floats. Melissa has written an amazing book- intended for children, but enjoyable by kids of ALL ages who love the parade and it's blockbuster balloon stars. I highly recommend this marvelous book to anyone. It is a must read, and a MUST have! Bravo Melissa Sweet!

Non-fiction can be more entertaining than fiction and this book proves it. It is the story of innovation through the genius of Tony Sarg who loved marionettes and through that love invented the beloved balloons over Broadway. This book takes you through Tony's journey, his contact with Macy's in 1924 who wanted marionettes for their window. Then wanted them for a parade for their immigrant workers. Finally, the balloon idea, inspired by the blimps, blossomed. For curious children, or children with imaginations, this book shows what is possible through the mind of one man. Probably best for mature 4 and 5-year-olds through children 8 or 9. Although I was fascinated by the story as an adult. The illustrations are charming as well.

"Balloons Over Broadway" is a fun picture book that also educates young children about puppetter Tony Sarg's creation of the marionettes and later helium-filled puppets that would be the highlight of many Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parades. Author-illustrator Melissa Sweet, a Caldecott Honor Winner, uses mixed media and the results are simply amazing - there is a burst of color on every page which just captivates the reader's attention.

Both my seven-year-old daughter and I found ourselves transfixed as we turned the pages, discovering Tony Sarg's journey from a young boy with an active imagination to a young man who realized his dream of making and working with puppets. There's lots of background history provided in an accessible manner, complemented by lovely color illustrations.

The author's note at the end was informative in providing additional details about Tony Sarg, who is considered by many to be the father of American puppetry. There is also a bibiliography and sources listed for readers wishing to deepen their understanding of the subject matter. One thing that I thought would have been a nice touch to this book would have been the inclusion of an arts and crafts section that would help a child and adult work together on a puppet project, so that young readers might benefit from hands-on experience. Recommended for ages 5-10.

A fascinating artistic hodgepodge. Drawings and found items and design sketches are mixed together in a perfect representation chaotic creation. For that alone, I enjoyed this book. The artist put so much thought into the design of this book, which really brings it to life for little readers.

The story itself is...okay. At least for the average reader. If your kid likes parades or puppetry, I suppose this is a guaranteed hit. For more selective readers, you'll want to approach a purchase cautiously. I recommend checking this out from the library before buying, just to make sure.

Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet tells a story about how the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade was started. The book began with Tony Sarg, the main character, as a child, and it told about his fascination with bringing things to life. As Tony grew up, he decided he wanted to make marionettes. Macy's discovered his talents and wanted to put them to use for the parade they wanted to hold. Over the next few parades, Tony modified his plans to make the inflatable figures that we see today in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.
The book's organization and illustrations are arranged in a manner that is highly engaging to a student. Within every page there is a lot of different colors and images for the readers eyes to digest. In some pages, he illustrations are arranged similar to a comic book with several small scenes being displayed, on other pages there are real life puppets or papers overlapping the watercolor and pencil drawings. In the middle of the book, there is a two page spread that requires the reader to flip the book sideways to read it. This forces the reader to become more involved, if the previous illustrations had not already done so.
That way Tony uses his imagination to create something he loved may inspire a student to do the same. It encourages the reader to follow your passions, because Tony is greatly rewarded for following his own, even when his journey was in London. This story is fun for younger readers because it takes an event that is widely known, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and tells the story of how it developed. This was a great book, and I would recommend this book be read around Thanksgiving.

Balloons Over Broadway is a fun book with whimsical photos and illustrations that tells the true story of Tony Sarg, the designer and creator of the first balloon floats for the Macy's Day Parade. Sweet introduces Sarg, who at a young age started to build moveable contraptions. From his young beginnings, he became a self taught marionette builder and performer, which eventually lead to his biggest job with the Macy's Parade. Sweet presents this informational text in an orderly chronological form, yet each illustration is not so neatly organized, with its mix of diagrams, sketches, photos, illustrations, and collages. It is this contrast between the text and the illustrations that makes this book work.

Melissa Sweet received the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children because of her well-written and attractive designed book. In addition, Sweet contributes her success of the book due to her own similar interest in gadgets along with her interest in mixed media collage artwork. She has a clear understanding of Tony Sarg the man, because of their like interests and similar personalities. This is one book I would recommend for any child because of the interesting way the information is presented and the overall artful design of the book.

Probably one of the most entertaining history lessons I have ever read! I grew up watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but I suppose I never really put much thought into how or why it came about. It became a tradition for not just New York City, but Americans as a whole. Every year we stand along the sidewalks of the city, or tune in our televisions to catch glimpses of the famous parade and the extravagant balloons and floats on display. This picture book gives an exciting insight into the life of the creator, Tony Sarg, who creatively came up with the idea of using his marionettes on a much, much, larger scale. This country was built by immigrants who left their home countries in search of a better life here in America, and I believe Sarg's original display of expressing different traditions of these groups of people, probably brought great pride into the hearts of everyone. I love how the "illustrations and text join together" (Temple, Martinez, & Yokota, 2011, p. 373) and really add to the richness of this biography. I know for a fact that I will never look at that parade in the same way again.

References:

Temple, C., Martinez, M., & Yokota, J. (2011). Children's books in children's hands: An introduction to their literature. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Sweet, M. (2011). Balloons over Broadway. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Publishing Company.

This book Balloons Over Broadway is based off of the true story of Tony Sarg who helped improve and create the Macy's Parade that we all know and love still enjoy today. The pages have bright, colorful illustrations that are very appealing and everything in the pictures has a positive vibe to it, I think that is the reason why I really liked it as well. The illustrations are very warm and friendly and even a little silly looking, making it fun for children to look at during the story. At the end of the book, there is an author's note that explains how the illustrations were made with watercolor and collages of paper, objects, and fabrics. The pages allow children to see something new every time they look at it. The storyline is motivating and establishes the moral point of never giving up and sticking to your dreams. The vocabulary could be a little challenging for young readers, or young children being read to, but it is definitely a way to introduce new vocabulary to children. I like how the story is based off of factual information and even includes extra information on the inside covers about the author and book. Overall, I do think it is a great book for children and would be a fun book to learn about the Macys Parade.

This picture book account of the life of the Macy’s parade puppeteer is creative and bubbly. I think it would be a great addition to a lower elementary school classroom. I could definitely see Kinder through up to 3rd graders really enjoying this book both for it’s storyline and illustrations. The pictures are colorful and exciting. If the teacher has good storytelling techniques I believe the students would be very interactive and engaged in the book. The book is also similar to What To Do About Alice in the way that it progresses through the puppeteer’s young life as well as older life. In this way the children can connect to the puppeteer’s younger life and his curiosity and energy. I enjoyed reading through is progress and how he went from using the string to feed the chickens in his room to flying balloons at the Macy’s parade. This book can teach the children about making goals and how the smallest goals met can lead to the biggest accomplishments if they set their mind to it, and are passionate about the subject. You could teach a lesson on goal setting and progress with this book.

"Every Thanksgiving morning for more than eighty years, mammoth-size balloons have risen to the skies to wobble and sway, sally and shimmy, up and down the canyons of New York City. Just how did this beloved tradition come to Broadway? Who first invented there wondrous' upside down marionettes'?" -flap

Absolutely Amazing! This book tells the story of Tony Sarg and his amazing creations. The illustrations, mixed-media collages, and original 1930's advertisements bring this book to life. Children and adults will love it. It has the honor of winning several awards, including the 2012 Robert F. Sibert Medal and the 2012 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award.

"Necessity is the mother of invention." This tale begins with a story of a young boy postulating how to get out of his morning chore of feeding chickens. One invention later, the chickens are simply fed from the comfort of his bed and he is never assigned another chore. Indeed, Sarg (the young boy, grown) is quoted later in the book as saying: "I have never done a stroke of work in my life."

An inspiring tale of the man who grew up to be the father of American puppetry and the inventor of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade balloons. The perfect book for those children who love to see how things work and need inspiration and outlet for their creativity.

Melissa Sweet wrote and illustrated a great book for young readers about the man responsible for the Macy's day parade floats, Tony Sarg. Sweets biography of Mr. Sarg is complete and easy for young readers to understand. She doesn't put complicated language in her story and transitions from each part of Sarg's life flawlessly. The story tells of how anyone who is determined can solve complicated problems to find a solution through trial and error. Sweet draws inspiration from Sarg mixed media techniques to illustrate the book. She uses both pages to show the grandeur of the floats, as some of the floats are larger than buildings, doing this allows sweet to show scale. The text is in normal fonts for easy reading and is placed on the outsides of the illustrations. The background has notebook pages with notes, journal writings, and papers of different types that go with the trying different medias theme, to show his process. Sweet did a great job and this would be a great addition to any classroom or home library.

Kids and I both loved this one - learning about the Macy's Day parade was such a novel subject. The collage art of Melissa Sweet is always so very interesting to look at, and worthy of multiple readings just to see it all. We are going to add this to our Thanksgiving book collection, at my 7 year old's request...

Balloons over broadway is one of my favorite picture books! The pictures are amazing and so vivid. Young children will love this book not only for its colors, but also because of what Tony did. This would be good for the younger children for when you talk about what they want to do when they grow up and say that they can be ANYTHING they want to be and accomplish it. Just like Tony. He wanted to know how to make things move. As you can see he figured it out! Not only did he figure it out and do it for a living, but he created a parade that is done every year on Thanksgiving Day since 1924. How cool is that!? The kids will be amazed and this will boost their confidence in what they wanna do. Of course it can be enjoyable for all ages because no matter how old you are, you still have an imagination and everyone's imagination soars. In this case, you see how Tony's imagination soared and got him where he is now. The main guy to the Macy's Day parade.

This book is for adults and children alike. It is a biography of the man who had the very concept that, eventually, became the Macy's Parade. The text allows readers to peek behind the scenes at one of the artists whose work and dedication created this magical event that so many of us have enjoyed for decades. This was a very interesting and informative book but also entertaining through the art style chosen by the award winning, Sweet. Her collage technique is very unique; it's like a scrapbook of the history behind the parade. Her art is very detailed and beautifully constructed. I recommend this book for anyone to enjoy. After reading this book children will watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade knowing the history of how it came about and more than likely have a new appreciation for all the work that goes in to making it possible.

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.

Balloons over Broadway by Melissa Sweet is based off the true story of Tony Sarg, the main character in the book. It's an amazing book in which it talks about how the Macys Thanksgiving parade came to be today. It shows the journey of tony, and his inspirations to bring his ideas to life. This illustrations and text go hand in hand with one another and really bring the reader into the prospect most of us do not see as outsiders. Her since in colors really makes the book in my opinion. It allows this friendly feeling in which we actually experience watching the parade in present day. From the way that the book is written, it allows readers to get emotionally connected to the character and the meaning behind an even most of us watch from the television every holiday with our families. I really enjoyed this children's book, and would recommend it to all ages. It has such an amazing storyline with a deep meaning behind it.

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.

Balloons over Broadway by Melissa Sweet is based off the true story of Tony Sarg, the main character in the book. It's an amazing book in which it talks about how the Macys Thanksgiving parade came to be today. It shows the journey of tony, and his inspirations to bring his ideas to life. This illustrations and text go hand in hand with one another and really bring the reader into the prospect most of us do not see as outsiders. Her since in colors really makes the book in my opinion. It allows this friendly feeling in which we actually experience watching the parade in present day. From the way that the book is written, it allows readers to get emotionally connected to the character and the meaning behind an even most of us watch from the television every holiday with our families. I really enjoyed this children's book, and would recommend it to all ages. It has such an amazing storyline with a deep meaning behind it.

I think the author did a wonderful job informing the readers about the inventor who was a puppeteer of the balloons that we see in the Macy's Day Parade. Tony Sarg was a child growing up and liked to always mess around with things to see how they work. One day he explored balloons and was asked to create the balloons for the Macy's Day Parade. This book is about him and his early creations in a national parade we know of. I like how Melissa Sweet included vintage pictures of Tony Sarg and newspaper articles about the balloons. The illustrations were remarkable and real life objects were used in the book. I would recommend this book for children in the first and second grades. I think it should be shared with kids of this age group so they will have knowledge into a part of some history for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

If you have never experienced the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, this is a great book to grab! When reading this book, I felt like a native New Yorker on Thanksgiving day. I was intrigued by the fabulous collage like pictures, the bright colors and the real like portrayal of the event. Balloons Over Broadway really captures the genious and determination of puppeteer, Tony Sarg and helps to explain how he became a long lasting gift to America through his unique hellium filled works of art. It's a story about problem-solving and innovation. I could see someone using this story in a classroom right before Thanksgiving when talking about the different traditions or maybe during Fiesta in San Antonio, to talk about different parades. My thoughts on this story are all positive. My daughter enjoyed the story and I beleive that it truly deserved every bit of Orbis Pictus Award it received.

Typically, when you imagine a children's picture book, you imagine fantasy worlds with small amounts of words and large amounts of pictures. While the pictures in Balloons Over Broadway are abundant that's about the only thing typical about this non fiction children's book. Balloons Over Broadway is an informative book about how the larger than life Macy's Thanksgiving day Parade balloons came to be. Cover to cover it is bursting with knowledge about the inventor of these grand balloons, Anthony Frederick Sarg, and his passion for puppets and ideas for the upside-down puppet, or balloon. My only complaint about the book is that the pages are very very wordy which in my opinion would be less appealing to a young reader. Aside from this minor flaw, the information presented is not only interesting, but accurate and therefor a great informative read for people of all ages.

I really enjoyed reading this book and learning about Tony Sarg and his connection to the Macy's parade. I really learned a lot about how the gigantic balloon characters that I see every year in the Macy's parade came in to existence. I really loved the colorful, very detailed illustrations in this book. It was neat to see how Melissa Sweet used a combination of cartoon like drawings and real objects in her illustrations. I found myself quickly reading this book and then flipping back through the pages to look at the wonderful illustrations once again. This book would be great to read to a classroom before Thanksgiving, and the Macy's parade. Children will have a better understanding of the history behind the oversized character balloons, and also have some fun facts to share with their family and friends!

This story lets readers have an insight on how the beautiful big balloons came about to the traditional Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. It also gives an insight to the life of Tony Sarg and how his creations are a big contribution to many today that enjoy watching the Macy's Day Parade. Whether or not you live in New York City most people living in the U.S. are familiar with it. I know some families who watch as the parade on TV as a Thanksgiving Day tradition. This book is an excellent and enjoyable read for children. The illustrations are magnificent and have your turning your book to get a better glimpse of the images. I think after reading this book most readers will sense a greater connection and a feeling of contentment when they watch the parade. It is a great way to teach students about following your dreams and doing something you enjoy.

"Balloons over Broadway" is an excellent children's book! I loved reading it and my children enjoyed it as well. I think it is a motivational and inspiring book for children of all ages. The pictures throughout the book remind me of how children see the world through their eyes. It was insightful to learn how the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade got started in New York. My family and I watch it every year and had no idea how the parade got started. I loved how Tony Sarg created his marionettes for the enjoyment of others in the beginning of the story. It was wonderful that Tony Sarg wanted to help the other immigrants celebrate their own holiday traditions based on street carnivals from all over the world. The story had a very positive theme; if you dream it, you can do it!

Balloons over Broadway is a book that is creatively written and illustrated. Melissa Sweet does a fantastic job of bringing together the biography of Tony Sarg and the beginnings of the Macy's balloons. I found it interesting because I never knew the history behind the parade that is watched and attended by so many people every year. It also tells a story of how determination,problem solving skills, and some ingenuity can help you succeed.I feel this would be a great teaching tool to have when discussing the Thanksgiving holiday. This book will open the door for so many interesting and explorative questions among children in small or even large groups. I highly recommend this book for teachers and parents.

With mixed media illustrations, this delightful picture book tells the story of Tony Sarg, the puppeteer of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and his creation of the upside down, marionette, helium puppet . From the first parade in 1924, to the debut of helium balloons in 1928, Tony Sarg played a critical role in developing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade as we know it today. Children ages 5-8 will want to learn about the legacy of Tony Sarg, as well asthe start of this Thanksgiving Day tradition.

A captivating, wonderful story of the success of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Balloon's over Broadway written by, Melissa Sweet is a true story focused on the puppeteer, Tony Sarg. Sweet delivers Sarg's story in an all deserving manner beginning with his childhood. Sweet speaks of Sarg's joy in creating marionettes and several significant moments regarding his success. The non-fictional story provides a deep, but joyful insight into the unique and various creations of the parade. Its illustrations are bright, colorful and eye catching. This book is definitely deserving of its awards. Balloons over Broadway can be easily deemed joyous, but historical. This book is a pure thanksgiving essential in the classroom.

Many times we experience things in life, such as the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, but we never really think about how it all got started. This book was a really cute story of how Tony Sarg thought up and created the massive floats we see every year being pulled through the streets of New York. The illustrations for this book make the story more appealing than an ordinary article would have been. And the author went into great detail of how Tony Sarg started as a puppeteer and turned into the creater of the giant floats used in parades. I enjoyed the book a lot and think children and adults would enjoy learning how the Macy's parade all started.

Balloons over Broadway is inspiring historical book that really grabs the reader's attention with its vivid colorful pictures and fun lettering. This book takes the reader on a life trip with Tony Sarg. Tony as a child has a great imagination and never let anything stop him from making his dreams come to life. Tony started make marionettes and with motivation and hard work was the main contributor to what's know and seen by most Americans yearly, The Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. He started out making puppets and ended up making the day of thousands of people yearly. This is an inspirational book showing that the sky is the limit when you believe in yourself.

"Balloons over Broadway" is a great book about a true story. It depicts the life of Anthony 'Tony' Frederick Sarg and how he went from being a marionette man to being the brain behind the Macy's Day Parade that we see today on Thanksgiving. It is a great tale for children. It shows them that no matter what they want to be or do when they are an adult, then can do it with a little imagination and hard work. It's a great book to read whether you are 4 or 64. Although, you may have to explain a few things to the younger children about what a 'marionette man' does.

The colors on the page just pop, and the pictures just bring it to life. Overall, this book is AMAZING. It is also interesting to learn about something that today, we can just turn on our television's every Thanksgiving and watching the Macy's day parade, when during the time period of this book, it did not exist yet. Sarg, the main character, would be the a real life character that was asked by Macy's to create at first, a window display with his puppeteer material. They wanted this because it would bring the display to life! Well, it was just SO GOOD, that they asked him to partake in a parade. Every year since, they have expanded on this parade, and it has now become a tradition from most families, like mine, to watch on Thanksgiving morning. ( Of course BEFORE football comes on :p ) This book was just amazing to read. Once I read it, I would just go back through and flip the pages of the book over and over again to look at the pictures and the vivid colors. This book is WONDERFUL for kids, and is also beneficial for them to learn about HOW the tradition started. 5 stars from me!!

Melissa Sweet did an amazing job by taking me back to my childhood. I always have enjoyed watching the Thanksgiving Parade, and I know I will be doing it this year as well. Balloons over Broadway tells the story of Tony Sarg, the creator of the balloons in the Macys thanksgiving parade. In the story, Melissa tells us about Tony's life and how he loved inventing things. I loved the illustrations throughout the book; they were very detailed. I also liked that the images were depicted as a collage; to me it looked like a scrapbook. I would definitely incorporate this into my classroom, especially during Thanksgiving. To remind kids that if you set your mind to something you can accomplish anything.

To a lot of people Thanksgiving is all about family and watching the Macy's parade, and of course eating lots of turkey. This story is about how the parade came to be and how one man's great imagination and love of puppets made an impact on so many people and more generations to come. The illustrations in the book capture they eye from the cover of the book to the last page in the book! Children for many generations to come this book will be a great story to read to children and explain to them how the parade came to be such a big event and how hard one man worked to create such a memorable day for all ages.

Balloons Over Broadway was a beautifully constructed informational picture book. I love the collage style Melissa Sweet uses throughout the book to capture the life of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I love that she incorporated pictures of her own toys that she created as well as illustrations in the book. This book was packed with informative content and history of the parade itself, as well as a sweet story of Tony Sarg's life. I loved that even the author's note in the back of the book was packed with more information! Each page layout had its own unique style that created a feeling of excitement and fun. All of the illustrations and photos brought history to life. This would be a great book to use right before Thanksgiving break!

During the week of Thanksgiving the skies of New York are filled with these giant balloons as they are there for everyone to see in the Macy's Parade. The Award-Winning author and illustrator Melissa Sweet tells us the story of Tony Sarg, the genius behind the balloons. Melissa Sweet tells us through the vibrant colors and textures from watercolors, scrapbooking, and photo-collage. The reason why this grabs a child's attention is the know how of Tony Sarg's skills from the balloons. His curiosity is then transfered to the children who are reading or being read this book.

Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade, written and illustrated by Melissa Sweet, a Caldecott honor winner, follows the life of Tony Sarg, the man who in essence created the modern day Macy’s Thanksgiving parade. The nonfiction story starts off explaining Sarg’s childhood invention, but then quickly jumps to his later successes with the Tony Sarg Marionettes show in New York City. The majority of the story centers on Tony Sarg’s work with Macy’s; the store first asked him to create window displays. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade used to have live animals, but they scared the children. Tony was challenged with coming up with a new and exciting feature for the parade that thousands of people could see. Sarg collaborated with a blimp company to create the large floats, and he used his knowledge of marionettes to give the floats appropriate movements. The success of Macy’s parade can solely be attributed to Sarg’s creative mind and imagination.
The author, Melissa Sweet has illustrated over a 100 books however has only written three. Her signature is whimsical watercolors accompanied by collage art, which is the style for Balloons Over Broadway. Most notably is Sweet’s work with the Pinky and Rex series; she illustrated the entire series. Balloons Over Broadway has won several awards, including the 2012 Sibert Medal, the NCTE Orbis Pictus Award, as well as the Cook Prize.
Although this book is categorized as nonfiction and follows the true story of Tony Sarg, I feel it lacks quality facts. The story itself overshadows the facts being conveyed. It is likely a reader would forget that this was a piece of nonfiction. I would use this as an interesting story to read with my students during rug time, however I would probably not use it as a resource when trying to study the history of balloons or the history of Macy’s Thanksgiving parade. The evolution of Macy’s floats is covered sufficiently, but facts about Tony Sarg’s personal life are missing. The large jump from Sarg’s childhood to his successful marionettes leaves a lot of gaps as well as unanswered questions.
The art is a collage of many different elements. Sweet spent time gathering materials from Macy’s, Sarg’s books, and her own toy sketches. She pieces together pictures of the story being described with Tony Stag’s own plans. The book’s cover is just a sneak peak into the time spent on the illustrations. Sometimes even the text becomes a part of the illustration when she wants to emphasize a particular fact, such as “It was a parade New Yorkers would never forget!” Not knowing the exact outcome desired, Sweet admits to playing with different types of materials to create the illustrations. Most notably Sweet switches up some of the pictures from being horizontal to vertical, which requires the reader to move the book in order to understand the page. She makes the page about the new type of floats vertical to accentuate the increased size of the balloons. I love the collaged appearance of the first page “Every little movement has a meaning of its own,” a quote directly from Tony Sarg, and the page is flushed with a portrait of the man himself. Even the black and white pages are filled with depth and dimension. By combing a plethora of elements Sweet creates a vibrant backdrop for Tony Sarg’s life story.
In both the storytelling and illustrations it is clear Melissa Sweet wants the reader to take away an attitude of play. Tony Sarg’s daughter stated, “quite Simply, Tony Sarg just never grew up” and the books comes off as the inner workings of a child’s imagination. The whimsicalness and playful environment makes this nonfiction picture book appear to more of a fictional one. The reader is not simply reading straight facts about Tony Sarg and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, but rather becomes engrossed in the growth of Sarg’s marionette show to the now immense parade. I would recommend this book to first through third graders. Young elementary children will appreciate the story’s colorfulness and connect to the information because they are familiar with the Macy’s parade.
Overall the intensity and comprehensiveness of the illustrations are enough to have everyone pick up and read this book. The missing information about Tony Sarg is made up for by appeal to the eyes. It is clear Melissa Sweet is an illustrator first, but even so this book is definitely worth a bedtime read.

Balloons Over Broadway is a intermix with a story and biography with real pictures and hand drawn pictures. Its such a fun great book for children, its not only a biography about Tony Sarg the creator of Macy's balloons but it's a story about innovations and problem solving. The pictures are so stunning the mix of media and her ability to put in the layer of graphic elements just makes the pictures pop out and makes the book so engaging. It is such a great read and fun read.

I thought that this was by far the cutest children's book I've ever read. The pictures in this book were spectacular. A child would be drawn to the pictures. The colors in the pictures are bright and just beautiful. The story teachings children about problem solving and also teaches children about how the Macy's Day parade started. The Macy's Day Parade now plays a huge role in our country. Its great for kids to learn about that kind of stuff. I use to work at a daycare and would read this book to my kids daily. They LOVED it. Melissa Sweet really did an awesome job!

This is an incredibly interesting and informative book about Tony Sarg, who created the balloons for the original Macy's Thanksgiving parades. The text is thoughtful and cheerful, and the book's design is unusual and attractive. We've read this book dozens of times and I keep noticing new things in the illustrations. My son is 3 and this book is on the longer side for him, but he's always engaged until the end. A great read for Thanksgiving time, and all year round. It's one of those rare books that you won't tire of as a parent--and we all know how valuable those are!

In a happy turn of serendipity, I recently found myself enjoying two new children's books about things that fly.

Balloons over Broadway, written and illustrated by Melissa Sweet, and The Fabulous Flying Machines of Alberto Santos-Dumont, written by Victoria Griffith and illustrated by Eva Montanari, both transport the reader back to the early years of the 20th century, before television and Pokemon. A hundred years ago, children played with sticks and rocks. At least, that is, when they weren't too busy working. In 1910, two million children under the age of fifteen were employed (some would say 'enslaved') in industrial jobs in the United States. This left little time for reading or anything else. Child labor reform would soon lead to improvements in public education--now children needed to be looked after during the day--and effectively ushered in a second Golden Age of children's literature, adding soon-to-be classics from giants like Dr. Seuss, Virginia Lee Burton, and Robert McCloskey to the canon populated by Alice and Pooh.

Now it's 2011. Today's kids have it better, at least in some ways. Life expectancies are up and industrial accidents are down. On the other hand, youngsters often very easily fall into the trap of 24/7 branded characters and hand-held devices. Parents must try harder than ever to pull children away from video games and instead nurture their own imagination. So you want something entertaining but also illuminating? Step right this way! Learning isn't just for kids, anyway. I'm no toddler myself, but I had no clue about the origin of the balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. And I would have claimed that the Wright Brothers invented the airplane. Clearly, reading books with your children is an opportunity not only to spend time together, but also to share in the discovery of knowledge.

I found it inspiring to learn about these two pioneers, Tony Sarg ("rhymes with aargh!") and the melodically-named Alberto Santos-Dumont. The former was a child at heart who claimed that he had "never done a stroke of work in my life," while the latter naively believed that harnessing flight would lead to world peace: "Once people are able to fly to different countries, they will see how much we have in common. We will all be friends." Sarg and Santos-Dumont worked tirelessly for the benefit of others. Worthy role models, both.

Sweet's book has an official release date of November 1st, while Griffith's book came out two months ago. Both are large hardcovers with top quality printing and paper. Both also include biographical information presented as Author's Notes, so you can flesh out the stories after doing a little postscript cribbing, or simply let an older child explore further on their own. (Please note that Santos-Dumont took his own life, sadly. Although not mentioned in the other book, Sarg, too, died under less than fairytale circumstances: bankrupt and from a ruptured appendix.)

Both books, too, are written for the same age range (4-8) though I think the upper end is best for the Griffith book, the better to appreciate the more mature Impressionist-inspired artwork by Eva Montanari. This same book also contains a high ratio of words per page which may test the patience of a younger audience.

I would be shocked if anyone has an attention problem with Melissa Sweet's balloon book. But I wouldn't be surprised if it pulls in some kid lit awards at the end of this year. She is already a Caldecott Honoree for her illustrative work, and when you see the tactile world full of mixed media puppetry that she has created here, you will not be surprised, either. I can't remember how many children's books I have reviewed in 2011--the store discontinued their tagging feature some months ago--but this was for sure one of the Top Books of the Year for me. You and your child could spend hours looking at every single page. Even the endpapers are eye candy.

Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade and The Fabulous Flying Machines of Alberto Santos-Dumont should both be added to your bookshelf. I hope the authors get the attention and recognition they deserve. They certainly have mine.

[The reviewer was provided with complimentary copies of both books, which are, incidentally, from different publishers.]

Ever wonder about the origins of the huge balloons over the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade? You can stop wondering and learn with this enjoyable educational, interesting, and child friendly book. Appropriate for adults and toddlers (as well as bigger kids). The illustrations are varied and particularly appealing.

I love this book! I borrowed it from the library because it looked like a fun book to read with my kids. I picked it up to look at it and fell in love with it - had to buy it. Informative, beautiful and easy to pick up again and again. I left it on the coffee table so everyone who came over could read it too. A book for kids and grown ups to share!

A great book which contains history and great illustrations, which tells the story of how Tony Sarg came to be the creator of Macy Days Parade. The book contains such great pictures and letters, which makes the reader feel like he is part of the story. I really like how they start off by telling how Tony started making inventions at such a young age and how he slowly came to New York and made a name for him.

You don't find very many interesting types of books, such as this one. I learned many new things and plan on reading this book to my younger children around once the Holidays start coming around again. The illustration is really good and I love how this book talks about tradition and immigration. Something many of us can relate too. MUST READ!

I loved "Balloons over Broadway". It was such a cute little story about our annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parades. The images were so cute and colorful and had an interesting set up; it didn't follow the traditional page by page set up. It was also a really interesting read about the start of the balloons used in the parade mixed with a bit of history.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a tradition many of us Americans have grown up with, whether you are a native of the big apple, witnessing it live or watching it comfortably in your home in San Antonio. This book delvs into the innovation Tony Sarg had as a child, and that with hard work and problem solving he became the creator of the Macy's balloons. Sweet draws the reader in with her illustrations that at times engulf more than the span of two pages. At one point the illustrator drew a balloon sideways to span vertically between the two pages making it so that you have to turn the book to see how giant the balloon is! This makes the reader become more engaged in the book.

Balloons over Broadway is a book that is creatively written and illustrated. Melissa Sweet does a fantastic job of bringing together the biography of Tony Sarg and the beginnings of the Macy's balloons. I found it interesting because I never knew the history behind the parade that is watched and attended by so many people every year. It also tells a story of how determination,problem solving skills, and some ingenuity can help you succeed.I feel this would be a great teaching tool to have when discussing the Thanksgiving holiday. This book will open the door for so many interesting and explorative questions among children in small or even large groups. I highly recommend this book for teachers and parents.

You don't find very many interesting types of books, such as this one. I learned many new things and plan on reading this book to my younger children around once the Holidays start coming around again. The illustration is really good and I love how this book talks about tradition and immigration. Something many of us can relate too. MUST READ!