Balloons over Broadway

Sweet, M.  (2011).  Balloons over Broadway:  The true story of the puppeteer of Macy's parade.  NY:  Houghton.

Tony Sarg was an inventor from early on in his younger years.  He began by making puppets when he was just six years old.  As he grew up and moved to New York City, he became a famous puppet maker.  Macy's asked him to create puppets for their holiday windows.  They loved his work so much that Macy's asked him to create a parade for immigrants to remind them of their homelands.  After trying several ideas, such as live zoo animals and rubber puppets, Tony found the right material, rubberized silk.  The parade was a success and still continues as a tradition on Thanksgiving Day.  This Bluebonnet book is composed of several art techniques.  There are hand drawn illustrations and characters, clippings from magazines and paper, and real photos of toys and objects.  All of these types of media is what keeps readers attention to the details in the pictures.  Some of Tony's original blueprints are included in the book.