Book Review: 'Balloons Over Broadway' by Melissa Sweet

✰✰✰✰½ Have you ever wondered how the gigantic balloons in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade came to be? They are the highlight of the parade for many, but most of us have no idea how it all started. Over a hundred years ago, a talented immigrant named Anthony "Tony" Frederick Sarg came to America. He specialized in making marionette's with lifelike movements. After coming to New York City, Macy's department store asked Tony to design a "puppet parade" for the store's "Wondertown" windows. The display was so popular, Macy's tasked Tony with creating a holiday parade for all the immigrants employed by Macy's. 

The first Thanksgiving Day parade in 1924 was a huge hit and included live zoo animals. Over the years the parade grew, but some of the children were afraid of the animals. Tony hoped to replace the lions and tigers with puppets, but how? And how did the puppets turn into the iconic, gigantic balloons? Check out this book for an informative, but entertaining read about Tony Sarg, the puppeteer who transformed the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade into the event we look forward to each year.

The Bottom Line: Written and illustrated by Caldecott Honor Winner, Melissa Sweet, this biography of Tony Sarg is filled with fascinating, colorful illustrations in gouache, collage, and mixed media. The book includes an Author's Note with some interesting tidbits about Tony and his life's work, information about the art in the book, a bibliography, and sources for quotes. Both Sarg's story and the author remind us "...that "play" may be the most important element in making art!" Highly recommended for kids ages 7 - 10 or anyone who is interested in art and American History.

Details: Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade written & illustrated by Melissa Sweet. Picture book published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children in 2011.  40 p. ISBN: 9780-547-19945-0