Sweet, M., Newborn, R., &
Paquette, C. (2011). Balloons over Broadway: The true story of the puppeteer
of Macy's Parade. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.
Balloons Over Broadway is a lively
book that tells about the creator, Tony Sarg, of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day
Parade balloons, and how he made his ideas of creating a massive floating
balloon come to life through the use of puppets. It took the puppeteer, Tony,
three tries to get the right material to use for the balloons, figure out the
correct size of the balloons, and to figure out how to make them float high in
the air. Tony was an immigrant whose passion had been trying to figure out how
to make things move and puppeteering his entire life. The way the book is
organized integrates the look of a scrap book and a story board. The author
uses an array of text styles including printed text and cut and paste text. The
bright, eye catching illustrations are very busy which makes the reader have a
feel for how Tony organizes his thoughts on paper. The pictures are a
conglomeration of watercolors, clay model characters, and a depiction of real
life objects. By using realistic objects, the reader has a better understanding
of the timeline transition from puppets to balloons. This book would be a
useful teaching material around Thanksgiving. Children can make a text to real
world connection when they see the Macy’s parade on TV.
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