The BolognaRagazzi Award – BRAW is the BCBF prize aimed at selecting the finest illustrated children’s books worldwide.
The award honours the best productions in terms of their graphic and editorial qualities, innovation and the ability to talk to young readers; these are the guidelines taken into account by our international jury of experts.
BRAW is among the world’s most highly regarded international prizes in the sector of children’s publishing and it’s a great business opportunity for the publishers.
Winning the prize or gaining a special mention means gaining extraordinary visibility for the title in the publishing world, representing a leading launch pad that gives publishers, authors and illustrators the opportunity to bring their books to the international children’s publishing industry – thanks to the high profile recognition that the winners receive by BCBF, both during the fair and on line.
There are four main Award categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Opera Prima (for unpublished authors and illustrators), and Comics. The jury is also asked to give a special New Horizons award to a particularly innovative book. Besides the main permanent categories, every year BRAW features also one or more special categories.
The special category of the 2022 BolognaRagazzi Award will be dedicated to PHOTOGRAPHY.
As usual, the awarded books will join our full collection of the prize-winning books held by the Salaborsa Ragazzi Library in Bologna.
2023 Special Category: PHOTOGRAPHY
It was back in 1984 that Sarah Moon presented her Chaperon Rouge illustrated with photographs. The book caused a sensation not only for its content but also for the innovation use of photography to illustrate that content.
Since then, photography has become a regular feature of children’s books, widely studied and a subject of popular interest and exhibitions. However, children’s publishing has long been accustomed to photography in books thanks to the innovative, experimental work of Bruno Munari.
The time has now come to take stock of the extent to which photography is an integral part of children’s books throughout the world.
This new Special Section of the BolognaRagazziAward will provide a 10-year overview of publications featuring photography, including re-prints of classical works.