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

by Melissa Sweet

Hardcover, 2011

Call number

E S

Publication

Clarion Books (2011), Edition: Illustrated, 40 pages

Description

Award-winning artist Sweet tells the story of the puppeteer Tony Sarg, capturing his genius, his dedication, his zest for play, and his long-lasting gift to America--the inspired helium balloons that would become the trademark of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

User reviews

LibraryThing member eay2206
I love this book. I think it has great illustrations. I love how you could connect this to Thanksgiving with the parade. This book provides many great teaching plans.
LibraryThing member akg118
GREAT book! Lots of good illustrations to go through, expect to take SEVERAL minutes on each page. The book tells about the original puppeteer who created the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. A great book to read around Thanksgiving time, just in time to view the parade! It put the
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parade in a truly different perspective for me, I really enjoyed the book! I am sure you will too!
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LibraryThing member jmsummer
An interesting take on the creation on the Macy's Thanksgivings day parade. This book is full of interesting notes and artwork that is intergrated into each page. Each of these pages gives the story more life than the traditional childrens books full of just pictures and text.
LibraryThing member smoore75
Balloons Over Broadway tells the story of puppeteer Tony Starg in storybook fashion. The story begins by introducing the reader to Tony and his love for puppets. The scene is then set in New York City where Tony is asked to put on a parade for immigrant workers that work at Macy's. From there, the
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story is history. It seems when ever an obstacle materialized, Tony overcame it making for not only an informational storybook, but also a story of inspiration. Through Tony's ingenuity and creativity, he became instrumental in the creation of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade that we all know and love today. The book is full of engaging illustrations that draw the reader in.
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LibraryThing member kharding
This book describes the life of John Sarg, and his contributions to puppetry and the Macy's parade. This book has great visuals, which give a lot of excitement to the book. I enjoyed the story-like style of the book as well. This book is engaging for students who wouldn't normally read non-fiction.
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I would use this book in my classroom in a read aloud. We have been focusing on more traditional non-fiction styles (in order to teach text features.) This book would be useful for gaining more student excitement about non-fiction. It would also lead to a greater discussion about what non-fiction is, because many of my students would initially think it is fiction because of the style and presentation.
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LibraryThing member JLCasanova
This book has very engaging pictures. It will appeal to students in K-5. It tells the story of Tony Sarg who created the ballons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. It tells of his loves for puppets and marionettes, and how his passion for his hobby led to his "big" moment. This book could
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serve as a starting point for science classes, and a math class could use this to discuss proportions.
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LibraryThing member amclellan0908
In an appealing account of the work of immigrant and puppeteer, Tony Sarg, Melissa Sweet captivates her audience with whimsical graphics and a story-like recounting of the playful immigrant puppeteer who revoluntionizes the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Challenged to replace live animals in the
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parade, Sarg responds by first crafting large rubberized balloons, which ultimately leads to the creation of the infamous helium balloons still featured in today's parade. I would read this aloud to my students to introduce them to nonfiction text, as I know my students tend to view nonfiction as biographical only. I could also use this to teach students how to narrow the scope of their writing,
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LibraryThing member RangerRoss
An interesting children's book that tells the story of the man who designed the first floats for the Macy's Day parade. Illustrations are pictures of puppets and other crafts with some of the original design sketches thrown in. Can relate to physics by the gasses and materials used, as well as the
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puppeteering of making things move. Might be interesting for children who are tinkerers or who enjoy creating things with their hands. Not really useful for high school biology or nature classes.
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LibraryThing member bpoche
Wonderfully textured illustrations combined with an engaging and true narrative make this book worthy of every award it receives. A story that few know before reading, but all want to share afterwards. In a science classroom, one could certainly spark a conversation about atomic masses as they
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relate to gases (helium, oxygen, etc.) on the periodic table.Highly recommended for any classroom. Many ways to go.
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LibraryThing member jenunes
Balloons over Broadway was recommended to me the day it joined the ranks of an award-winning titles. Read in a college-level nonfiction across the curriculum class, it was engaging and kept everyone's attention as we worked our way through it. Taking about ten minutes or so to read as a group, the
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story was fast-paced, and in my opinion, would be ideal for any level of elementary classrooms as well as certain levels within a middle school.
The illustrations were wonderful and with every page, my interest was captured and held as I examined each picture. The story as well was biographical in nature, and yet told at a lower-level, not bogged down by higher-level vocabulary. This would be a prime example to me of differentiated instruction for students who are on the lower grade levels.
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LibraryThing member ertreada
Brief history of the Macy's parade describing how ones man love of puppeteering influenced the most famous aspect a holiday tradition that is truly American. Vauable to early readers interested in art, puppetery and hsitory
LibraryThing member rwilliamson
The art was wonderful, including objects made by the author as well as different types of drawings and paintings. The story was engaging. It would appeal to students who were familiar with the Macy's parade. I am sure very few of my students ever questioned the history of the parade or the
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balloons. I know I hadn't thought of it before reading this book. This book could be used to show students that final projects often take many forms before the final version. I will order it for my library.
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LibraryThing member NathanielWood
Using a very light informal narrative, the author introduces us to the genesis story of the Macy's Day Parade, and the man who is most responsible for its modern incarnation. We begin with a boy who likes to tinker. that boy grows up to become a puppeteer first in London then in New York.The latter
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half of the book deals with his work for the Department Store Macy's, and how that work would eventually grow into This book is a very good way of putting an American Institution in a historical and even geographic context. I could see this as a elementary school level book. I am not quite experienced enough to peg this at any one grade level.
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LibraryThing member kratzerliz23
The book would appeal to students both in Elementary and Middle School because the writing was in story, fiction format, it did not seem like a non-fiction reading book. The artwork in the book was captivating and followed along with the text. This book would be exciting for children who like to
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invent and create things. The story tells about how Tony Sarg developed his puppets into working models in the Macy's Day Parade.
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LibraryThing member DustinB1983
A children's book about the innovator of the Macy's Parade balloons. It is an interesting look at how the ideas for the ballons evolved from a man's passion for puppets. It reads like a story and is full of wonderful illustrations.
LibraryThing member dcaitlyn
bright, colorful images based on painstaking research of Sarg's original work bring a playful and inventive point of view to what could otherwise be a trite holiday tale.
LibraryThing member harriewatson
Story was informative for me because I knew nothing about the origins of the Macy parade balloons. I have never really liked that parade because they don't throw any favors. But I love the history of the puppet connections. I really loved the collage illustrations because I sew and create all kinds
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of things from fabrics. The pictures were inspirational for me. They could inspire me to create in many different directions. For my specific area of secondary math, I could use this as a starting point in 9th grade algebra to show practical applications using proportions.
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LibraryThing member chelsea6273
An interesting book from page one, Melissa Sweet's "Balloons over Broadway" teaches its audience--most likely elementary children--about the roots and creation of the famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, New York. The author takes us on a trail of Mr. Serg's life as a child who
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was unhappy about doing household chores, and opted to invent a way to make a pulley system that would perform the chore while he stayed in bed.
Eventually the puppeteer makes puppets for Macy's window display, which then grew into a celebration of Macy's immigrant employee population. The story then explores something that still exists today: the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which consists of puppets that were originally made by Mr. Serg.
Not only was Sweet's writing entertaining and informative, the illustrations in the book made me explore the book even more.
I recommend it to anyone.
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LibraryThing member ydraughon
Melissa Sweet tells a short story of the life of Tony Sarg, who created the famous helium puppets for the Macy's Day parade. A good read aloud that would engage K - 5th grade. Relevance to real lives is watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV.
LibraryThing member wackermt
Balloons over Broadway presents an engaging explanation of the origins of the Macy's parade, told with paintings and pictures. The story reads as a fictional picture book might, with clear sequencing and basic diction.
Throughout reading, my mind kept jumping off into the fascinating topics
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presented. It made me want to stop and learn more.
It could be a good read for inventive and curious learners who like to build and experiment.
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LibraryThing member KeithMaddox
Its presentation is an engaging mix of terse, focused narrative and interesting visual supplemental material. It describes the development of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and Tony Sarg, whose love of puppetry and problem solving led him to create the famous balloons. I think the tone is a bit
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juvenile for the target audience, but allows the book to reach and interest a broad range of students (by age, ability, or interest) and to create bridges between the history, engineering, and story-telling that the book covers. I could see using this book for a class of younger advanced readers or a class of older struggling readers to engage them, or possibly reading it to a 5th or 6th grade class if the current topics (bouyancy or application for a science class, New York or the turn of the century for a history or social studies class) were applicable.
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LibraryThing member alexa.kirk
Balloons Over Broadway is a fun and whimsical information book that teaches kids the history behind the Macy's parade and the man who created it. It speaks to reader through light, humorous, and fun tales of Tony's life. The information is complemented with whimsical illustrations that capture the
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spirit of Tony's puppets and floats.
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LibraryThing member LydiaBree
The story is about the life of Tony Sarg and his influence on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Tony was always interested in toys and making things work. His love of toys seems to be inherited from his grandmother who left him a large toy collection. Tony was born In England but immigrated to
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the United States. He performed with his marionettes on Broadway. Word of his ability spread and Mr. Macy asked Tony to create a puppet display in the windows of his store for a holiday display. Next Mr. Macy asked Tony to create a parade for all of his employees. The first parade was in 1924 and has been a tradition ever since. A few years later, Tony introduced the balloon characters to the parade and the rest is history.
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LibraryThing member Venisa
Genre: Biography

Review: This story is a biography about Anthony "Tony" Frederick Sarg, the creator of the blimps, puppets, and balloons at the Macy's Day Parade. It goes through telling the beginning of Tony's life, how he got involved in being the creator of these massive balloons, and what he
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created. It's a great story to read to kids around Thanksgiving so that the know the background story of the parade.

Setting: There really wasn't a main plot, style, or point of view in this story and the character is obvious. But the setting can be talked about. For this story, it takes place in New York. The parade takes place during the day on Thanksgiving Day.

Media: Gouache, collage, and mixed media
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LibraryThing member DayehSensei
A playfully informative book about the life of Tony Sarg, who designed and invented the use of helium puppets at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This would be a great book to use as an introduction to nonfiction, around Thanksgiving time, or to have students "guess" the genre ("Is it biography?
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Is it fiction?" etc.). Lots of science elements and real-life relevance.
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Awards

A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book (Nonfiction — 2011)
Texas Bluebonnet Award (Nominee — 2014)
Young Hoosier Book Award (Nominee — Picture Book — 2014)
Triple Crown Awards (Classic (Runner-Up/Honor Book) — 2016)
Georgia Children's Book Award (Finalist — Picturebook — 2015)
Monarch Award (Nominee — 2014)
Utah Beehive Book Award (Nominee — Informational Books — 2014)
Lupine Award (Winner — Picture Book — 2011)
Red Clover Book Award (Nominee — 2013)
Cardinal Cup (Winner — Young Readers — 2012)
William Allen White Children's Book Award (Nominee — Grades 3-5 — 2013-2014)
Nutmeg Book Award (Nominee — Elementary — 2015)
Golden Kite Award (Winner — 2012)
Orbis Pictus Award (Winner — 2012)
Mitten Award (Honor — 2012)
Charlotte Zolotow Award (Highly Commended Title — 2012)
Black-Eyed Susan Book Award (Nominee — Picture Books — 2013)
Volunteer State Book Award (Nominee — Primary — 2015)
Cook Prize (Winner — 2012)
Great Reads from Great Places (New York — 2014)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Kids (Informational Books for Older Readers — 2011)

Pages

40

ISBN

0547199457 / 9780547199450

Lexile

L
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