I can't believe that I forgot to say how much I love, love, love this book. When I was a classroom teacher, many of my students were immigrants or just generally unaware of American culture. They truly needed a teacher to show them the Olympics, Obama's inauguration, Bush's state dinner, and uniquely American celebrations. Balloons Over Broadway is a beautiful way to introduce kids to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Totally recommended as a nonfiction (and picture book and American culture) More...

This is a Fantastic story about the history of the balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving parade and how it all got started. It starts off as a little boy that had one huge imagination and he loved to build and invent different things from a marionette man to a contraption to feed chickens without having to actually leave his bed. Later on in his older years he moved to New York City, working for the department store R.H. Macy's. He was asked to design a puppet parade for the stores holiday windows More...

Balloons Over Broadway; The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade is a wonderful story about the origin of the iconic Macy’s Day Parade balloons. This book tells about Tony Sarg’s fascination with how things moved, which originated when he was a little boy. As Tony grew up, he learned how to make puppets, and soon after he began mastering this skill, people were flocking to see his amazing marionettes. After moving to new York City, Sarg soon caught the attention of Macy’s, who hired him More...

Since he was a child, Tony Sarg was very inventive, he loved to make things move. After Tony moved to London he put both of these skills together and found his love for marionettes. Tony loved that these puppets were life like, and performed like real actors. Word spread about his talents and he found himself in New York working for Macy’s. Here Tony first made mechanical puppets for Macy’s window displays, people gathered to see his holiday marionettes. The Macy's store wanted to represent thei More...

NCTE Orbis Pictus Award (2010-2012) for Outstanding Non-fiction
Sweet, Melissa, Rachel Newborn, and Crystal Paquette. Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2011. Print.

Gouache, collage, and mixed media illustrations accompany the true story of Tony Sarg's life and mission. He has been building gadgets and marionettes since childhood. As an adult, Sarg still loved creating things and he was soon employed at Macy More...

Comments: This was your typical picturebook. It told the unique story of the man responsible for the famous, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade floats, but if you’re someone like me, and you never “break your neck” to watch a televised parade, I’m not sure you’d be any more excited about this book than I was. Nonetheless, I think children would definitely be blown away by the colorful illustrations and interactive nature of the book. It first reads like a comic book, then later, there is a section i More...

Audience: The audience for this book is primary elementary school. Because of the difficult vocabulary and detailed descriptions, I feel it would best fit 3rd graders.

Appeal: I think this book would appeal to 3rd graders because of the wonderful balloons animals and marionettes. Also, most 3rd graders have watched the Macy's Day Parade, therefore they will have a general understanding of the story. With the story being non-fiction, I feel that 3rd graders will feel inspired by Tony's true story. More...

Audience: This book would be perfect for any grade! It is perfect for students who are learning about Thanksgiving traditions. This tradition being the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and all of the balloons!

Appeal: This books appeal is amazing! The illustrations are very detailed and fascinating to look at! Some of the illustrations are cartoons and others are real-life objects. They combine wonderfully and make the pictures jump out of the pages. The story is very easy to read and makes readers More...

I absolutely loved learning about Tony Sarg for the first time as an adult. This book is full of beautiful illustrations and great information! I was unaware of how the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade started, even though I have enjoyed this parade my entire life. It is a fantastic, kid-friendly biography of an interesting man. I loved learning more about the author, Melissa Sweet as well. She really became hands-on while working on this book. She said that she created her own puppets and marionettes More...

This book was an excellent picture book biography of Tony Sarg. Sarg was an imaginative puppeteer who created marionettes in London and New York City. Soon word spread about his life-like creations and the owners of Macy's department store asked for his help with their Christmas windows and eventually to create puppets for the first ever Macy's Thanksgiving day parade in 1924. Eventually, Sarg created the world's first parade balloons that we still enjoy today.
This biography will grab children' More...

Audience: This book can be used across all grade levels in the elementary school and because it's non-fiction, it doesn't lose the appeal that a lot of books do once children approach sixth grade. The book is beautifully illustrated and the author tells a story instead of just presenting the facts. This is important to capture the attention of the lower grade level students.

Appeal: I love Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, so naturally this book was one I knew I'd enjoy. I actually learned quite a More...

In this spectacular picture book, Melissa Sweet captures the reader with creative and colorful illustrations while weaving in real historical information throughout the book. Her use of watercolor illustrations, collages, and a mixture of papers from different books to create papier- mache puppets, really brings the book to life as you're reading it. Her creations were very appealing to me and I know would have the same affect on children. I really enjoyed the book because of the history behind More...

I loved Balloons Over Broadway! I had never read it before, and I thought it had a creative and cute twist to telling a story. I enjoyed how the book began with Tony Sarg's life as a child, and how he had always been interested in how to make things move. That gave me an idea where his fascination sprouted from. I loved all the illustrations as well. The author/illustrator used a variety of fonts and sizes of the text throughout the book, which kept me wanting to read more...I didn't get bored. More...

JNF Call No.: 791.53 Swe Love, Love, Love this book!

2012 Robert F. Sibert Medal Winner Winner of the 2012 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Everyone's a New Yorker on Thanksgiving Day, when young and old rise early to see what giant new balloons will fill the skies for Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Who first invented these "upside-down puppets"? Meet Tony Sarg, puppeteer extraordinaire! In brilliant collage illustrations, the award-winning artist Melissa Sweet tells the story of the puppeteer Tony Sarg, More...

The story begins on the endpapers, where the audience is introduced to the idea of marionettes and one of their creators, Tony Sarg. This book follows Tony’s life with regards to the evolution of the Macy’s parade – filled with balloons of his design. The parade started out much different than it is today, and in fascinating detail, the author reveals the journey to create the perfect type of balloon for the parade. The illustrations are absolutely captivating, alternating between paintings and More...

This book is based off of the true story of Tony Starg who is the puppeteer behind the infamouse Macy's Thanksgiving day parade balloons. Tony was always interested in the way things moved and worked. By the time he was an adult, he was good at making marionettes. His technique helped his puppets move more life-like and it quickly caught the world's attention. Tony moved to New York so his marionettes could perform on Broadway. Then, Macy's asksed Tony to create window display that could move. T More...

This was one of my favorite picture books I think that it is such a cool story and the illustrations are just amazing!

Summary
From a very young age Tony Sarg enjoyed figuring out how to make things move. When he was a boy he was able to figure out how to wire the chicken coop so he could open it without having to leave his bed. As he got older he moved to London where he created marionettes, then he moved to New York City to start preforming them on Broadway. During this time R.H. Macy the owner More...

1. Genre: Biography/Autobiography

2. Summary: This book is about Tony Sarge and how he created the balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It shows the progression from mechanical puppets in the store windows to the balloons we see today.

3a. Author Qualifications

3b. Melissa Sweet has no background or education in marionettes. This lack of knowledge is usually difficult to overcome, causing books to become a dull recitation of facts. Sweet, however, went beyond her impressive list of sourc More...

To fill the category of “informational book or informational picture book,” I chose to read the Balloons Over Broadway written and illustrated by Caldecott Honor winner, Melissa Sweet. This book is basically the biography of Tony Sarg, the man who is responsible for inventing the enormous puppet like balloons that float through the streets of New York City one day every year for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Using spectacularly unique and fascinating illustrations and page layouts, Sweet’s More...

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 today. The pages have bright, colorful illustrations that are very appealing and everything in the pictures has smiling faces. The illustrations are very warm and friendly and even a little silly looking, making them 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 More...

What an amazing book! I noticed a lot of interesting literary elements and was able to see why this book won the Orbis Pictus award. It was informational, interesting and very well written. The author, Melissa Sweet tells the story about a man named Tony Sarg, and how he became known as the father of American puppetry. The illustrations, which were also done by Sweet, brings the story to life as we are taken into the interesting life of this very talented man. The illustrations take us to the ti More...

This has to be one of the best children’s books I have ever read! Melissa Sweet planned this book out perfectly, a genius I have to say. Her magnificent combination of collage, design and illustrations are guaranteed to capture the minds of children of all ages. I found it interesting that she was able to share apart of our American history with pictures so bold and vibrant. Most children find non-fiction books boring, never have I read a non-fiction book where the pictures make me feel like I’m More...

Balloons Over Broadway: What a brilliant, fun piece of true literature! Melissa Sweet’s Balloon’s Over Broadway is an incredible true story written for children, but intended for anyone who has ever wondered how those amazing giant balloons and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade came to be. The book is crafted like a sketchbook, with a collage feel to it, giving every reader an in depth look at not only the process of how to create the balloons, but also the thought process and creativity that w More...

There are many who are avid watchers of the annual Thanksgiving parade, sponsored by Macy’s Department store, & they will love this book, filled with city scenes and the most delightful high-rise balloon toys, meant for giants, I suppose. The book by Melissa Sweet tells the story of Tony Sarg, a boy who grew up making things, or taking them apart, and eventually became an expert in making puppets. One of his ideas was to have a parade for fellow immigrants. It started small, grew puppets eve More...

I fell in love with this book from the moment I opened the front page. The collage style that Melissa Sweet used throughout this book is right up my alley. This book tells the true story of the puppeteer of Macy's parade, Anthony "Tony" Frederick Sarg. I love how this book is about someone I never really knew about, but I knew of the parade and the big balloons and now I know where and how they came about. Every page is unique in nature telling a story in a simplistic manner. The use of maps, ne More...

Balloons Over Broadway is the tale of the mane behind the Macy's Day Parade. It's the life of Tony Sarg the puppeteer that helped create the famous parade that so many people watch here in America. this parade to many is something that makes the holiday's, as for me watching the parade is a family tradition we watch together every year. The book is really fun to read and as well look at if you don't feel like reading. The illustrations are different from anything I have ever seen/read before. Th More...

Today is inflation day in New York City and it has nothing to do with the economy, but everything to do with blowing up the giant balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

Every Thanksgiving, we see these giant balloons make their way down Broadway. Old ones get retired, new ones are added to the group, but lots of balloons are always there. Yet, have you ever wondered how it all started? If you have, then Balloons Over Broadway is the book for you.

In it, artist/author Melissa Sweet tells More...

We’ve all seen them – the big, colorful balloons floating over the streets of New York City every Thanksgiving Day. But how many of us have wondered how these fantastic creations came to be? Well wonder no longer because Balloons Over Broadway brings the magical history of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon puppets to your hands! Tony Sarg, the mastermind behind the ingenious Macy’s Parade inventions, was interested in the movement of toys, trinkets, and devices from the time he was a l More...

This book is a Robert Sibert Winner book:

I thought this book was appropriate for Thanksgiving. It is about he man who started the Macy's day parade. More than the story itself, I enjoyed the illustrations, extra experts throughout the book (like a true nonfiction book), and the inside covers of the book. The illustrations are gouache, collage, and mixed media. I found I got more out of what the story was about by all the little extras and authors notes at the end. My students really enjoyed this More...

Balloons over Broadway is a story of how the floats of the Macy's Day Parade began. The books discusses the life of Tony Sarg and his love for figuring out how things move and marionettes. Upon his move to London, he began creating puppets that were lifelike enough to perform as if they were real actors. Macy's eventually heard of Tony's work and asked him to design a "puppet parade". After many trials and errors, Tony eventually created the upside-down marionettes that are now known as the floa More...