Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade
by Melissa Sweet
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is one of the biggest parades in the entire United States. Every year, one of the highlights of the parade are the giant balloon characters that fill up the New York City streets. But how did these giant balloons come to be? Who came up with the idea? The answer is Tony Sarg (rhymes with aargh!), a puppeteer and toy maker that Macy's first hired to do their Christmas windows and then to work on their Thanksgiving Day parade. Sarg loved puppets and marionettes from a very young age, so when Macy's asked for something spectacular to replace live animals in the parade, Sarg immediately turned to puppetry. His puppets so far had only been about 3 feet tall though, so he knew if he used those in the parade no one would be able to see them. How could they be bigger - much bigger? And if they were much bigger, where would the strings go? Soon Sarg was off and running with ideas and a parade legend was born!
Melissa Sweet tells the story of Sarg's life and accomplishments and accompanies it with illustrations that combine watercolors, paper scraps, bits of fabric, buttons and other small objects. You'll want to take your time over this picture book biography of a little-known, but fascinating, creative talent. Winner of the 2011 Sibert Award for best children's informational book.



