Balloons Over Broadway

January 1, 2013
K-Gr 3-The Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade is a holiday tradition. But where did those big balloons begin? With puppeteer Tony Sarg, of course! The informative, enthusiastic text of Sweet's Robert F. Siebert Medal picture-book biography (Houghton Mifflin, 2011) tells a little about Sarg's life and his career in puppetry, adding a few quirky details sure to amuse listeners. Then it gets into the details of his part in the parade, and the evolution of creativity that led to the balloons we see today. John McDonough reads the text in a measured, clear manner-rather like the steady, rhythmic march of a band-giving listeners plenty of opportunity to explore Sweet's inspired multimedia illustrations. The end notes give additional information on this fascinating but little-known character from history. A delightful example of good nonfiction that should capture the interest of young and old alike.-"Teresa Bateman, Brigadoon Elementary, Federal Way, WA"

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 8, 2011
Tony Sarg (1880–1942, “rhymes with aargh!”), the man who invented the giant balloons of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, has found a worthy biographer in Caldecott Honoree Sweet (A River of Words). With lighthearted watercolors, fanciful scrapbooking, and collaged typography, Sweet shows how Sarg, a self-taught immigrant, combined an indomitable curiosity with an engineer’s know-how and a forever-young imagination. The story walks readers through each stage of Sarg’s development as a master of puppetry—his childhood fascination with mechanics and marionettes, his first big break as a developer of window displays for Macy’s, and his early earthbound parade creations (essentially air-filled rubber bags that were steered down the street). And then comes the light-bulb moment: “With a marionette, the controls are above and the puppet hangs down...” writes Sweet. “But what if the controls were below and the puppet could rise up?” 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. Ages 4–8.