From the Publisher: Bologna Children's Book Fair

Happy Monday, everyone. By the time you read this, I will be in the beautiful city of Bologna (home of the oldest European University, for those of you who keep track) at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair⎯and I’m very excited! This is one of the Big Five Book Fairs around the globe (the others are the London Book Fair, the Book Expo of America, the Hong Kong Book Fair, and the Frankfurt Book Fair). The fair in Bologna is the only one devoted entirely to children’s (ages 0-18) literature.

This year there are 1,442 exhibitors from over 80 countries, housed in over 20,000 square metres of exhibition space and more than 250 workshops and conferences in four days. Around 27,000 publishing professionals are attending. The packed schedule of events spreads through the pavilions of BolognaFiere and along the avenues of the city and will be attended by hundreds of artists from all over the world. At the forefront will be Switzerland, the Guest of Honour Country, with many of their events at the fair and in the city.

This year’s focus is on illustration and illustrators. I’m very keen to get an idea of the trends in children’s book design and illustration. It’s also an opportunity to meet other publishers from around the world and compare notes.

I’ll be taking lots of photos and describing my experiences throughout the week and you can follow along with them on our social media accounts.

Until next week!