The Next Chapter Café

In this talk, we will explore the creative universe of Ivar Da Coll through his Chigüiro series, examining how a nearly wordless character has transformed storytelling for children in Latin America. We will review Da Coll's work as an author-illustrator, the graphic and narrative choices that make Chigüiro a unique work, and how his books engage with early readers and reading mediators. From the perspective of a university research group, we will offer critical readings of his work and reflect on its place in the international landscape of children's and young adult literature, in light of his nomination for the Hans Christian Andersen Award.

Aria Ungerer leads a conversation with the teams behind two new children’s play museums—La Maison des Histoires in Paris and The Rabbit Hole Museum of Children’s Books in Kansas City. The session explores how picture books can become physical spaces of play and discovery at a time when digital distractions dominate children’s attention. The panel examines the pressures facing publishers and booksellers and shows how immersive, story driven environments can renew children’s connection to reading books.

Una panoramica sulla scrittura, l'illustrazione e l'editoria in Italia oggi. La prima parte dell’evento sarà condotta da Javier Sobrino, coordinatore di PEONZA, e analizzerà lo stato attuale della letteratura per bambini e giovani lettori in Italia, includendo contributi di specialisti, scrittori, illustratori ed editori.

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.

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.

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.

This tender and luminous story follows a little girl with a big wish in her heart. Through her innocent and curious perspective, the book gently explores family, longing, and tradition, accompanied by poetic illustrations that warm the soul. A tale about dreams, hope, and the search for the one who will become the keeper of the home — or perhaps the discovery that the keeper is closer than we think. A beautifully illustrated story that weaves together sweetness, culture, and wonder, created to enchant young readers and their families.

As women in publishing across Africa, we are passionately creating children’s books, often in contexts where writers, illustrators, and publishers cannot rely solely on children's literature for their livelihood. However, we come from extraordinarily rich storytelling traditions that deserve broader and more diverse visual and narrative expression. In this conversation, we will share our experiences as publishers and ecosystem builders, reflecting on how we nurture readers at home while leveraging platforms such as the Bologna Children’s Book Fair to expand opportunities for African children’s stories, creators, and markets.

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?