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

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sweet, Melissa. 2011. BALLOONS OVER BROADWAY: THE TRUE STORY OF THE PUPPETEER OF MACY'S PARADE. Ill. by Melissa Sweet. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780547199450

     2.  PLOT SUMMARY

     This picture book biography tells the story of the Tony Sarg, a famous puppeteer, from the time of his childhood through adulthood. The biography recounts the innovative creations Sarg began making even as a boy. His love of toys, marionettes, and making audiences smile landed him the task of creating the first Macy's Thanksgiving parade. After several years of working on the parade, Sarg had a brilliant idea. He decided to create puppet floats for the parade that functioned as reverse marionettes, with the strings controlled from below. Sarg's idea was a monumental success and is still used each year in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Sweet's biography is accurate because she includes a complete listing of all bibliographies and sources at the conclusion of the book. She even includes quote sources for exact words taken from the life of Sarg. For example, the quote "Every little movement has a meaning of its own" was directly taken from Sarg in "Takes a Look." Sweet's accuracy is further supported by her avoidance of stereotypes or bias within the biography. Sweet even remained committed to accuracy in her illustrations. Although the toys in the book were created by Sweet herself, she aimed to stay true to the look and design characteristic of Sarg's toys (Sweet, 2011). In addition, Sweet used several illustrations crated by Sarg for his book THE TONY SARG MARIONETTE BOOK (Sweet, 2011).

The organization of this picture book biography is logically sequenced from childhood to adulthood. This layout does lend itself to a cover-to-cover read because it tells an entire story in a relatively short amount of time.

Sweet uses unique illustration techniques to design a book that is both inviting and intriguing to the reader. The colorful and creative watercolor scenes as well as collages and mixed media allow the reader to experience life during Sarg's time. The font used in this book, Museo, is easily readable and contributes to a sense of playfulness in the book. Lots of detailed images are included on each page. However, the placement of text within these images is organized, neat, and easy to follow in logical sequence.

Sweet's writing style tells the story of Sarg in a unique voice and format. Her passion for childhood, play, and innovation are evident in the excitement and eagerness heard in Sweet's tone. Furthermore, Sweet's passion for this topic is conveyed by the immense detail and care she put in to creating collages, toys, and paintings for each page of the book. Sweet does a good job of exposing the reader to a number of facts and details about the life of Sarg without overwhelming the reader with information.

4. PERSONAL RESPONSE: STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

I found this book to be highly engaging and informative. I especially enjoyed the mixed media illustrations. The attention to detail and use of true-to-life objects reminds me of the I SPY books. I did find the lack of access points to be slightly frustrating while reading this book. A lack of page numbers, table of contents, or index does not allow one to easily skip around within the book. Therefore, I found it easiest to read this particular book from cover to cover.

5. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

"Sweet tells this slice of American history well, conveying both Sarg’s enthusiasm and joy in his work as well as the drama and excitement of the parade. . .This one should float off the shelves." (SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, starred review)

“This clever marriage of information and illustration soars high.” (KIRKUS REVIEWS, starred review)

“A joyous piece of nonfiction that informs and delights in equal parts.” (BOOKLIST, starred review)

6. CONNECTIONS

*Create a puppet craft. The instructions for the activity may be found on Melissa Sweet's website: http://www.hmhbooks.com/kids/resources/BalloonsOverBroadway_ActivityKit.pdf

*Read other books illustrated by Melissa Sweet such as THE BOY WHO DREW BIRDS: THE STORY OF JOHN JAMES AUDUBON (ISBN 0618243437)

*Students can write about a favorite hobby or pastime they have enjoyed since childhood.