Everyone’s a New Yorker on Thanksgiving Day, when young and old rise early to see what giant new balloons will fill the skies for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Who first invented these “upside-down puppets”? Meet Tony Sarg, puppeteer extraordinaire! In brilliant collage illustrations, Caldecott Honor artist Melissa 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 Parade. Winner of the 2012 Robert F. Sibert Medal and the NCTE Orbis Pictus Award.

Sketches from the Author
(Click on Images to Enlarge)

Sometimes I have to play with pictures to find the words, so I’ll make a collage to get warmed up.
My writing looks like lists and doodles until the very end when I write it out on the computer.
An early sketch in Tony Sarg’s studio where they puppeteers are figuring out how to make the inflatable animals.
This was the perfect place to have a spread that had to be turned, just like the “upside down marionettes” rising up.
In a nonfiction book even the smallest detail needs to be accurate and I found this wonderful reference for a 1920’s New York City bus stop sign that I used in Balloons Over Broadway.