Throwback to Bologna Children’s Book Fair !🤩
Just one week ago we were strolling through the wondrous world of children’s books from every continent 🌐 📚
Doing so on Italian soil always makes it all the more pleasant💚🤍❤️
Like Lauren, 32,652 professionals visited this 63rd edition, showing a slight decline compared to 2025, partly attributable to the complex international context and transportation difficulties.
The fair, inaugurated on April 13, also your editor’s birthday ;), took place at BolognaFiere alongside BolognaBookPlus (BBPlus) – in collaboration with the Italian Publishers Association – and Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids (BLTF/Kids), with Norway as Guest of Honour Country.
There were 1,540 exhibitors in Bologna, coming from over 90 countries and regions worldwide. New entries included Barbados, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Nepal, Rwanda, Senegal, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and Zambia.
Over four days, Bologna once again became the global capital of children’s publishing, the most important stage for rights and copyright exchange in the kids and young adult sector, and a promoter of content spanning the entire book supply chain and beyond, increasingly establishing itself as a cross-media hub: from scouting new talent to discovering new voices in emerging publishing markets, from gaming to audiovisual, comics and art.
The Comics Corner, the area dedicated to comics, which each year attracts increasing participation from publishers – both specialized and not – from around the world, grew by 60% compared to 2025.
The BolognaBookPlus area expanded, with a +15% increase in exhibitor presence compared to the 2025 edition. Two new features enriched the BBPlus offer: the Designer Studio and the Writers Lab, spaces dedicated respectively to illustrators and writers for children’s and general publishing.
Additionally, for the first time, within the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids, a space dedicated to the toy sector was introduced, developed also thanks to a strategic partnership with Play, another BolognaFiere event dedicated to board games.
Among the key themes of this edition: research intofables and fairy tales, in collaboration with UN Publications, the special category of the 2026 BolognaRagazzi Awards.
Collaboration with the UN also expanded to UN Women, focusing on gender representation in children’s and young adult books, promoting the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, of which BCBF has become a strong global advocate.
Alongside this, there was a focus on new reading habits that are redefining young people’s relationship with reading, including illustrated books.
The success of this year’s edition confirms the importance of the work carried out by the Bologna Children’s Book Fair through activities – including tours and initiatives – that go beyond the Bologna event and continue throughout the year, also thanks to the support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) and Italian Trade Agency (ICE).
This 2026 edition of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, closed up together with BolognaBookPlus and the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids.
Our sincerest Congratz to the organizing parties and all inspiring artists at the fair, nice meeting so many of you, from across the globe and our own tiny country Belgium 🫶 Tiny but full of promising talent ✍️
The next edition of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair – with BolognaBookPlus and the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids – will take place at BolognaFiere from April 5 to 8, 2027, with Poland as Guest of Honour Country.
publisher: De Eenhoorn 🦄, also hosting a busy network event at this cozy wine bar in the heart of Bologna’s city center, organized by Elly Simoens, here in the picture with Lauren.
Cheers to books & inspiration
🦄🍷🌷
ArtistCongratz 