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

Cover image of Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade by Melissa Sweet.

Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade
By Melissa Sweet
Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
2011
Ages 4-8
Lexile AD1000

Tony Sarg was always curious. Curious about the world around him, about how things worked, and about how to create something new. When his father gave him the chore of feeding the family chickens every morning, Tony was curious if he could do it without getting out of bed. Young Tony applied that curiosity to making a device to feed the chickens, "and his dad, so impressed, never made Tony do another chore." This curiosity and creativity continued throughout Tony's life, and Melissa Sweet expertly captures it in Balloons Over Broadway. 

Tony feeding chickens from bed in Balloons Over Broadway.

This biography tells the story of Tony Sarg’s development of the Macy’s Parade and creation of its iconic giant helium balloons. Through playful cartoon illustrations and mixed-media collages, Sweet conveys his sense of excitement and wonder in everything he undertakes. When R. H. Macy asks Sarg to create "something spectacular" for his parade, Sweet shows a smiling Sarg emphatically answering "OK!" from a toy-filled studio.

Macy telephoning Sarg and asking him to replace the animals in the parade in Balloons Over Broadway.

Sarg's original designs, based on Indonesian rod puppets, were "part puppet, part balloon...air-filled rubber bags...propped up by wooden sticks." As the parade became more popular, though, these creatures were not large enough for the crowds attending to see. Sarg was confronted with a new challenge of how to design the best puppets for a large street parade. As always, he was curious, asking what would happen if the marionettes he created were redesigned so "the controls were below and the puppet could rise up." Working with Goodyear, Sarg designed the first helium balloons.

Sarg and associates creating the first helium balloons in Balloons Over Broadway.

No one knew if the "upside-down marionettes" would work in the parade. When Sarg inflated the first balloons on Thanksgiving Day in 1927, crowds marveled at the animals flying high above them. Sweet's illustrations show colorful, smiling balloons guided by puppeteers through the streets of New York and excited children staring agape at the sky.

Giant balloon animals flying through the streets in Balloons Over Broadway.

Children looking up at balloons in Balloons Over Broadway.

Sarg's curiosity and creativity paid off. The parade was a success, and seeing the Macy's balloons on Thanksgiving became a tradition that endures to this day. Back matter including an author’s note, bibliography, and note about the art provides further information about Sarg’s life and Sweet’s process. In Balloons Over Broadway, Melissa Sweet illuminates the history behind a beloved tradition, introduces readers to a non-traditional biography, and educates children about a little-known inventor.

Source: Library Copy

Read-Aloud Video:

Further Reading:

• Horn Book "Five Questions for Melissa Sweet"
• Art of the Picture Book "An Interview with Melissa Sweet"
• Jama's Alphabet Soup "melissa sweet's balloons over broadway (a review, a little chat, and a special giveaway!)"
• Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast "Before You Watch That Thanksgiving Parade..."

Curriculum Connections:

• Balloons Over Broadway Activity Kit
• Balloons Over Broadway Educator's Guide
• Classroom Bookshelf "2012 Robert F. Siebert Informational Book Medal Winner: Balloons over Broadway"
• Reading is Fundamental "Balloons Over Broadway"
• University of Minnesota Libraries "Balloons Over Broadway, Melissa Sweet, and the Engineering of a Picture Book"