Finnish / Finland
Piano karkaa
(The vanished piano)
Maijala, Marika
(illus.)
Virta, Juha
(text)
Helsinki: Etana Editions, [2015]. – [36] p.
(Series: Filippa & Kumppanit)
ISBN 978-952-7105-03-0
Piano | Loss | Game | Music | Picture book
Reading age: 4+
White Ravens issue: 2016
In the middle of the night, a piano slips off a truck deck– and because the driver doesn’t notice the loss, it is still standing there on the street come morning. As soon as Filippa and her friends discover it, they start to jostle for it. All of them want it for different ends: André the donkey wants to use the piano as a coffee table, Norma the cat would really like to take a nap inside it, and Filippa would just like to play her favourite song on it. While the friends argue, the orchestra’s pianist is missing his instrument. He begins to look for it, finds his piano and at the same time discovers something that the conductor has been missing a long time…
The 2014 founded Finnish publisher Etana Editions specializes in picture books that are characterized by a bright-hued graphic style and are a little retro, but still very fresh and modern. “Piano karkaa” fits the bill perfectly – cheerful, colourful and wimmelbook-like.