Stories help children make sense of an increasingly complex world and understand both themselves and others. This session explores what it means when children learn that they belong through the books they read and how this in return helps to raise empathetic adults who can navigate change, tolerate ambiguity, and stay compassionate in challenging situations. More than representation alone, the discussion will highlight how thoughtfully crafted stories can nurture belonging from an early age and strengthen social understanding. Publishers, educators, and creators we will examine how children’s literature can lay the foundation for a more connected, empathetic, and sustainable world.

The first in a series of three themed talks dedicated to children’s literature, fashion and costume, linked to the international exhibition The Fabulous Wardrobe and the Endless Thread . Clothes, flags, sails: the perspectives on childhood and storytelling of the acclaimed picturebook author Alemagna in dialogue with journalist and writer Caridi, author of Sudari: Elegy for Gaza . Both share a focus on narrative materiality and on the presence of fabrics, threads and ties — both physical and metaphorical — in stories and in history, as well as in practices of civil resistance and in the defence of children’s rights. Moderated by Marcella Terrusi, curator and author of The Fabulous Wardrobe (Carocci, 2025), lecturer at University of Bologna.

Luigi Garlando racconta la vita di Sandro Pertini, il presidente più amato dagli italiani, a partire dal suo ultimo libro Sandro libera tutti. Dall’infanzia al settennato, tra coraggio, onestà e amore per la libertà. Un ritratto intenso e accessibile di una figura centrale della nostra Repubblica, capace di parlare alle ragazze e ai ragazzi. Un appassionato racconto d'autore tra impegno civile e avventura.

A panel of publishers and reading experts will present some of the most successful projects currently underway around the world, including #ioleggoperché in Italy, the quart d’heure de lecture in France, the UK’s The National Year of Reading, and other projects still being finalized. The second part of the meeting will focus on proposals from trade associations, with contributions from representatives of FEP, IPA and IBBY to foster discussion on ongoing initiatives, future challenges, and priorities identified through dialogue with European and international institutions.

In un mondo che suscita interrogativi sempre più grandi su cosa sia giusto e su cosa sia umano, raccontare buone storie ai bambini e ai ragazzi è una responsabilità. Qual è l’impegno quotidiano di chi scrive e di chi illustra? Costruire immaginari alternativi, allenare alla vigilanza e all’empatia, saper guardare gli altri. Di questo, e dell’inscindibile rapporto tra realtà e ruolo della letteratura dialogheranno Beatrice Alemagna e Timothée de Fombelle, guidati dalla giornalista e scrittrice Concita De Gregorio.

Dal conduttore di Report Sigfrido Ranucci, Navigare senza paura , la prima guida per giovani esploratori del web, uno strumento unico per orientare i giovani nella complessità del mondo digitale: intelligenza artificiale e le fake news, il nuovo gioco online e la condivisione di informazioni personali. Perché la sicurezza dei ragazzi passa soprattutto da una buona informazione.

In today's world, infographics are everywhere. Rooted in Otto Neurath's Isotype project, Marie Neurath brought them into visual books, blending the useful with the pleasant.

Childhood, for Sophie Blackall, is not just a stage of life, but a way of looking at the world. In the books of this multi-award-winning author, children are attentive and visionary observers, capable of grasping deep connections, imagining new possibilities, and inhabiting reality with curiosity and wonder. In works such as If You Come to Earth and If I Was a Horse , imagination becomes a space of freedom. Her stories portray a universal childhood, one that greatly inspired the genesis of the essay Se vivi sulla terra by Antonella Capetti, as well as the idea of the picture book as an ideal educational tool for learning and growth at school, grounded in listening to children. Sophie Blackall in conversation with Antonella Capetti and Francesca Mignemi.

A rapid succession of presentations made by authors and illustrators on the picturebooks coming out in 2026. To discover the work, inspirations and stories that lies beyond each book.

Among the events: Marco Baliani reads Il signor Ventriglia; Beatrice Zerbini and an unpublished poem; a tribute to Stefano Benni with La riparazione del nonno; L'asino Fofo, in memory of Goffredo Fofi; Ilaria Tontardini with Tomi. Un'infanzia sotto il nazismo - a  tribute to Tomi Ungerer; Fabian Negrin as you've never heard him, in a karaoke version!

Across Europe (and globally), boys consistently score lower than girls on reading assessments such as PIRLS and PISA. The reasons aren’t simple—but research points to a combination of factors. For instance, reading is stereotyped (and promoted) as a quiet hobby, that helps you develop your empathy skills. Does this give girls an advantage? Or is this issue an example of a self-fulfilling prophecy, in which boys lack male reading roll models at home or school, reinforcing the idea that reading is 'not for them'? And do we, the reading promoters, design our literacy and reading interventions with boys in mind? This panel discussion brings together reading promoters from across Europe to discuss effective strategies for engaging boys in reading.

Nell’anno dell’ottantesimo anniversario della Costituzione italiana con La Costituzione allo specchio. I principi fondamentali e le sfide del mondo di oggi , Andrea Franzoso invita studenti e docenti a rileggere i valori fondanti della Repubblica alla luce delle sfide attuali. Un percorso tra diritti, doveri e cittadinanza attiva per formare coscienze consapevoli, in conversazione con Della Passarelli e Elisabetta Morosini per progetto Bill, Biblioteca della Legalità di IBBY.

Some children are turning away from books, creating a real challenge for publishers, authors, and cultural organisations. This moment also opens space for new ideas. The session brings together an international organisation dedicated to connecting children with books, a festival director, a new space project, a children’s play centre, and author Timothée de Fombelle, whose 101 Ways to Read a Book Passionately celebrates reading as a joyful, free experience. The speakers will share practical ways to reconnect young readers with the joy of books. They will present projects that blend stories, images, and play, meeting children where they are and guiding them back to reading. With 2026 named the Year of Reading for Pleasure in some countries, collaborative innovation has never mattered more.

Established in 1967 by IBBY, International Children’s Book Day is celebrated annually on or around Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday, April 2nd. Every year it is sponsored by a different IBBY Section, which crafts a poster and message and inspires reading activities, both locally and worldwide. 2026 is sponsored by IBBY Cyprus under the inspiring motto “Plant Stories and the World will Bloom”. From the creative process to the organization of reading campaigns, this roundtable brings together IBBY members from across Europe to discuss the importance of ICBD and the many festive ways to instil the love of reading to children.

The banning and challenging of children’s and young adult books have been rising dramatically in various parts of the world. Not just in USA, similar things are also unfolding all over the world. What is at stake when stories for young readers are restricted and who gets to decide? This panel brings together editors, literary scholars, and librarians to examine contemporary book bans in a broader historical and cultural context. We will explore how today’s challenges, often driven by well-organized advocacy groups, echo longer histories of censorship, while also highlighting the vibrant resistance movement defending the freedom to read. The discussion will showcase initiatives such as international banned book networks and libraries specializing in banned books. Simultaneously, the panel will also address more complex questions such as: How do we distinguish between censorship and the re-editing of older texts to remove stereotypes? And how can we support young readers’ access to diverse, challenging, and empowering stories in an increasingly polarised climate?

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of "Pagine giovani", a specialized magazine of children's literature, accredited by ANVUR in class A, we will retrace its history and illustrate its commitment and salient characteristics, also recalling the dossiers and monographic inserts published over time, referring to the specific Wikipedia entry https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagine_giovani

With the participation of representatives and chief editors of other Italian and international periodicals in the field, who will briefly introduce their journals, will be highlighted the role and valuable function of children's literature magazines in the service of research, information, and dissemination. During the meeting, attendees will be provided with a printed index, organized by subject, of the most significant articles published in the magazine over its 50 years of publication, for the benefit of scholars, teachers, students, librarians.

This panel brings together SDG Book Club chapters to discuss why stories about climate action and conflict resolution are more essential than ever, and how young readers benefit from understanding sustainability, peace, and justice early on. With book bans on the rise, panelists will explore how SDG Book Clubs can support one another in keeping sustainability at the core of children’s learning everywhere. Speakers will share their experiences as publishers and SDG Book Club organizers in a fast-changing landscape and what has helped them to continue advocating for action toward the Sustainable Development Goals.

A meeting to tell, through the illustrators involved, the strength of the European project "OLL - Our Little Library" supported by the European Union that creates bridges between different European countries by enhancing the best literature and illustration for children.

Ogni giorno ciascuno di noi si trova di fronte a una scelta. Accettare la realtà così com’è o chiedersi se c’è qualcosa che può essere cambiato. Vivere nell’indifferenza e nell’apatia o farci animare dalla passione e partecipare, metterci in gioco. Rimanere in silenzio o dire ad alta voce “non sono d’accordo”. Per praticare i nostri diritti di cittadine e cittadini dobbiamo porci le domande giuste. Cos’è il potere e chi lo esercita davvero? Perché la libertà non è fare tutto quello che vogliamo? Quando comunichiamo, siamo consapevoli di avere tra le mani uno strumento potentissimo, capace di ferire ma anche di accogliere? Storie, idee, passioni per cambiare il mondo: per la prima volta alla BCBF, Gianrico Carofiglio racconta la forza delle parole e delle azioni, a partire dal suo manuale di lotta e gentilezza rivolto alle ragazze e ai ragazzi (ma in realtà anche agli adulti).