School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-In this wordless picture book, a little girl visits the Metropolitan Museum with her grandma, leaving her yellow balloon tied to the railing outside. However, it escapes with the help of a pigeon and the rest of the story follows the balloon's adventures in New York City while the little girl and her grandmother are inside. There are often three or more busy vignettes filled with activity and energy on each page. Adults may pick up on the fact that the balloon's adventures are often thematically matched with the sights at the Met (e.g., as the museum-goers view the Temple of Dendur, the balloon shares the stage at the Metropolitan Opera with Aida). The balloon has many wild escapades that show children and adults in silly settings throughout the city. This is a fun story with a lovely grandparent/child relationship. It won't teach readers much about famous paintings or about life in New York City, but it does offer lots of viewing for children and adults to share.-Susan Lissim, Dwight School, New York City (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Loaded with pizzazz, this wordless story takes readers on a great balloon chase that encompasses some of New York City's most celebrated sites. A grandmother and a girl holding a yellow helium balloon are stopped at the door of the Metropolitan Museum and a guard ties the forbidden toy to the banister, offering to keep an eye on it. The moment he turns away, a pigeon unties the balloon, and the guard is off and running to retrieve it. Detailed pen-and-ink drawings, punctuated with color to highlight the central action, show all the chaos that ensues, from Central Park to the Plaza Hotel to a production of Aida at the Metropolitan Opera. Into the scenes of mayhem, Glasser (Alexander, Who's Not [Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!] Going to Move) cleverly inserts reproductions of famous works of art, as viewed by the girl and grandmother, each a reflection of whatever action is going on around the balloon. In the onstage scene at the opera, for example, a dog walker, a zookeeper, a Plaza bellhop and others wreak havoc while the girl and her grandmother view an equally erratic painting (Autumn Rhythm) by Jackson Pollock. Some pairings work better than others, but Glasser's drawings capture all the energy and charm of a captivating city. Ages 5-up. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
