The Piano Recital by Akiko Mitakoshi

When I picked up this book at Gleebooks as a title to include in a talk I am giving for IBBY Australia next week I knew this was a title (of the twenty I am showcasing) that I just HAD to include. Why? Because the little girl, the main character, is named Momo!

It is the day of Momo's first piano recital. She is naturally very nervous. As she stands watching the other children playing on the huge stage, a small mouseling echoes her words "I'll be okay, I'll be okay." The mouseling is part of her own recital. She invites Momo to come and watch.

The tiny mouse leads Momo to a secret space under the theatre. There she sees an audience of mice watching acrobats, magicians, a mouse orchestra, a huge mouse choir, and a beautiful mouse ballerina. 

Finally the mouseling takes to the stage herself. "You'll be okay,' Momo reassures her. 'I'll go with you onstage.' The mouseling's face lights up. Momo's own racing heart and worries are long forgotten."

Momo plays the tiny mouse sized piano while Momo sings. The audience love the performance and they all jump up and begin to dance. As the page turns the scene changes. We see Momo herself on the human stage. She is taking a bow. She isn't at the mouse recital. She has just played her own piece perfectly and the "sound of applause fills the room."

I especially love the page where we see the mouse audience. The mice are eating sweets, reviewing the program, chatting, holding hands, sleeping, and one is even looking through a small pair of binoculars. This scene reminded me of the audience in the Jan Ormerod book The Story of Chicken Licken.

This is a Japanese picture book which was first published in 2012 with the title Piano Happyoukai. 

ピアノはっぴょうかい

The imaginative narrative is woven around the common childhood experience of anxiety, felt by performers but also by every child who faces a new life challenge. Momo serves as a wonderful example to children, using the power of her imagination to understand and work through her feelings. The Ladybug Reads

... the beauty of the mice and their environment is a feast for the eyes. Kirkus

The English language edition was published in 2019 by Kids Can Press. Akiko Matakoshi received a Special mention at the Bologna in 2016. Here are some of her other books: