Fiction - Entertainment & The Arts, General & Miscellaneous Holidays, Fiction - Holidays & Festivals

Milly And The Macy's Parade

Name: Milly And The Macy's Parade
Author: Shana Corey
ISBN: 9780439297554

by Shana Corey, Brett Helquist

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Overview

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It's 1924 and the holidays are approaching. Milly lives in NYC with her Polish family and frolics daily in holiday displays at the Macy's store under the watchful eye of Mr. Macy. But Milly's family misses their homeland and traditions. In an effort to cheer people up, Milly convinces Mr. Macy to combine old country traditions with new American heritage in a celebration for all to enjoy. Everyone agrees that the resulting parade will become a wonderful new tradition. This heartwarming story beautifully captures the creation of a uniquely American event.

Concerned that the immigrant employees of New York City's Macy's department store are homesick at Christmas, a young girl inspires the store's head to hold the first Macy's Parade. Based on a true story; includes historical note.

Synopsis

The Macy's Parade is a treasured American pastime. But few people know that the first parade in 1924 was organized by immigrant employees at Macy's eager to incorporate their old-world traditions into their new American heritage. W/ facility & flair, Shana Corey tells the fictional story of a Polish immigrant girl who helps envision this grand event. Brett Helquist's expressive, exquisitely detailed paintings are like holiday window displays come to life. Author & artist evoke the glamour & nostalgia of another era as well as the pride of what it means to be American.

Publishers Weekly

Milly, the daughter of Polish immigrants, idolizes her dad's boss, Mr. Macy: he "was just about the most important person in America (next to the president of course)." So when Papa and his co-workers grow homesick for their Christmas tradition of "caroling from house to house," Milly takes her idea for "singing and strolling in the streets" straight to Mr. Macy. As her endnote explains, Corey's (You Forgot Your Skirt, Amelia Bloomer!) "history" of the Macy's Christmas Parade is more fanciful than factual, but it captures the flavor of its 1924 setting. (Parade enthusiasts should see also Pamela Pease's Macy's on Parade, noted above under "Thanksgiving.") Marching across the horizontal pages, the sharp-faced, pointy-nosed characters of Helquist's (illustrator of Lemony Snicket's books) spirited acrylic and oil illustrations may convey a more satirical mood than the text suggests, but period details bring the '20s roaring back to life. Ages 5-8. (Oct.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

About the Author, Shana Corey

Shana Corey has the unique ability to make history accessible and fun, a talent that has been praised in all of her celebrated picture books, including MERMAID QUEEN, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham and YOU FORGOT YOUR SKIRT, AMELIA BLOOMER!, illustrated by Chesley McLaren, which was named a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year and an Orbis Pictus Recommended Title. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Brett Helquist was born in Ganado, Arizona, and grew up in Orem, Utah. He entered Brigham Young University as an engineering major, but soon realized this was not the right choice for him. Having decided to take time off from college, he headed to Taiwan where he stumbled into a job illustrating English textbooks, which he enjoyed. There, a friend introduced him to an illustration student, also from Brigham Young University. This introduction inspired Brett to eventually switch majors. After spending a year in Taiwan, he went back to BYU and transferred to the illustration department. In 1993 he received a fine arts degree in illustration.

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Editorials

From Barnes & Noble

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has been brightening the lives of New Yorkers since 1924. Milly and Macy's Parade spins a sweet fictional tale about the parade's origins. According to this engaging picture book, a Polish immigrant's daughter suggests the idea of the Turkey Day event to Mr. Macy, who obliges in a big way. Artist Brett Helquist, of Series of Unfortunate Events fame, enlivens the story with colorful pictures of happy Gothamites.

Publishers Weekly

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3-The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is a highlight of the New York City holiday season with its marching bands and big balloons. In this story, set in 1924, Corey envisions a little girl whose immigrant Polish father works for Mr. Macy himself. Milly has the run of the store and can fly through the revolving doors and ride up and down the escalators and the elevators. She and all the fashionably dressed customers think that the Christmas merchandise is "gorgeous." But while Milly and her family are growing accustomed to America, they miss one wonderful custom from the old country: strolling from house to house singing Christmas carols. The child determinedly proposes to Mr. Macy a parade as an alternative. The marchers begin in Harlem with festive costumes, bands, and animals from the Central Park Zoo and end up on 34th Street. And so the annual festivity takes root. Helquist's acrylic-and-oil paintings feature colorfully dressed people with angular faces and bodies outlined in black. The author's note gives a history of the parade and acknowledges that while R. H. Macy himself died in 1877, he is a known character "-immortalized in the 1947 classic book and film Miracle on 34th Street-." While the references to the Follies and the Rockefellers and the Vanderbilts may be lost on children, this is an entertaining and lively variation on holiday stories.-Susan Pine, New York Public Library Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

This lusciously illustrated tale of how the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade may have originated features a young Milly, whose immigrant father is saddened at the prospect of spending holidays in America. He and the other workers on the delivery dock agree: they all miss home and familiar customs, like marching through the streets, playing music, and caroling. Suddenly, Milly is seized with an idea, and brashly barges into Mr. Macy's office to tell him about it: if the workers aren't feeling very festive, why not cheer them up with a parade? Powerful Mr. Macy thinks a parade is a terrific idea, the word spreads among Follies girls and Rockefellers, and a favorite tradition is born, complete with animals from Central Park Zoo and polka bands. The stylized people, with narrow faces, pointy noses, overly large eyes, and sharp-looking fingers, are not picture-book pretty; but the large format, borders in rich maroon, and deep colors of the acrylic and oil illustrations convey a sense of luxury associated with Macy's. Of course, this is not actually how the parade was conceived, but the story is fun, and readers can compare the imagined version with the historical note at the end. (Picture book. 4-8)