I CAN PLAY | THE STORY ORCHESTRA

A unique first piano book from the award-winning Story Orchestra series — I Can Play is unlike any other book in the series. Instead of pressing buttons to hear an orchestra, children play the music themselves on the real 14-key piano keyboard built into the bottom of the book. Colour-coded dots, circles, triangles and stars on the keys match the colour-coded notation on each page, so even the youngest child can learn to play 8 famous classical melodies one finger at a time.

Each piece is paired with a gorgeous Jessica Courtney-Tickle illustration from the Story Orchestra stories, a description of the part of the story the music is telling, and playing tips — including tempo guidance (slow and graceful for The Swan; fast and tense for Odile). All the favourite characters from the series are there to cheer young musicians on.

The 8 pieces to play:

• The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy — The Nutcracker (Tchaikovsky)
• The Dance of the Reed Flutes — The Nutcracker (Tchaikovsky)
• Flight of the Swans — Swan Lake (Tchaikovsky)
• Dance of the Cygnets — Swan Lake (Tchaikovsky)
• Royal March of the Lions — Carnival of the Animals (Saint-Saëns)
• The Elephant — Carnival of the Animals (Saint-Saëns)
• The Swan — Carnival of the Animals (Saint-Saëns)
• Spring Dawn Chorus — The Four Seasons (Vivaldi)

• I Can Play — The Story Orchestra series
• Illustrated by Jessica Courtney-Tickle
• Published by Frances Lincoln Children's Books (Quarto)
• Hardback, published 4 October 2022
• ISBN: 9780711264908
• 14-key piano keyboard built into the book with colour-coded dot, triangle and star stickers
• 8 easy one-finger melodies with colour-coded notation and playing tips
• Press keys firmly to activate the sound

A wonderful birthday or Christmas gift for children aged 3+ who love music — and a brilliant first step towards learning to play the piano.