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

Sweet, M. (2011). Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.

A biography written about a man with an unusual but widely known job. The books explains how Tony Sarg became a puppeteer and created one of our most treasured holiday traditions.  When you look at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade today it is hard to imagine that it started in the mind of one person.  He had and idea and had the gumption to put the idea into action.  Tony grew up creating and moved to London where he began to make puppets. After moving to New York City, he was approached by the owners of Macy's department store and asked to design a window display for the holidays. This turned in to coordinating a parade and eventually a parade of giant balloons. The balloons were made to make it easier for all to see no mater where they sat in the crowd.

This is pleasing biography to read to students during a study on inventors or biographies.The pictures were drawn by author Melissa Sweet. They pages are filled from edge to edge with pictures. There is no wasted white space. This also makes it easy for students to see the pictures no matter where they are sitting in your class. In addition to drawing there are pages with cutouts and photographs of real puppets. The pages are put together like a collage.  The story is also good to show that perseverance an admirable trait.