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| Sweet, M. (2011). Balloons over Broadway: the true story of the puppeteer of Macy's Parade. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. |
Written and illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Boston, Mass.
2011
40 pages
Winner of the 2012 Robert F. Sibert Medal and the NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
Meet Tony Sarg, the puppeteer extraordinaire who first invented the "upside-down puppets" that have graced the streets of New York every Thanksgiving morning since 1924. Sarg started to build movable contraptions at a young age and eventually taught himself to build and perform marionettes. Macy's caught wind of his miraculous talents and brought him aboard to create huge inflatable puppets that would become the staple of today's infamous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
All of the illustrations are whimsical and somewhat chaotic. There are a mix of diagrams, sketches, photos, illustrations, and collages that brilliantly contrast the organized layout of the informational text. The two mesh together to make the book work perfectly. The "messy", seemingly chaotic illustrations are sure to enrapture readers. In the middle of the book there is even a two-page spread that requires the reader to turn the book sideways in order to see and read the entire thing.
This book would be perfect to read during a Thanksgiving unit, maybe on the last day before Thanksgiving break as students are getting excited for all of their families' Thanksgiving festivities.
Purchase the book here.
Purchase the book here.
book trailer
Macy's Parade - 1930s
Behind the scenes of making the Macy's Parade balloons (2008)
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