The Next Chapter Café

In questo intervento, esploreremo l'universo creativo di Ivar Da Coll attraverso la sua serie di Chigüiro, esaminando come un personaggio minuscolo e quasi muto abbia trasformato la narrazione per bambini in America Latina. Analizzeremo il lavoro di Da Coll come autore e illustratore, le scelte grafiche e narrative che rendono Chigüiro un'opera unica e il modo in cui i suoi libri interagiscono con i primi lettori e con chi si occupa di mediazione della lettura. Dal punto di vista di un gruppo di ricerca universitario, offriremo interpretazioni critiche della sua opera e rifletteremo sul suo posto nel panorama internazionale della letteratura per l'infanzia e l'adolescenza, alla luce della sua candidatura al Premio Hans Christian Andersen.

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.

Discussion explores how different cultures and education systems shape children's reading habits and which successful practices we can learn from and adapt. We will examine the roles of families, schools, and communities in fostering a love of reading and consider how international perspectives help us better understand children's motivation and reading engagement. The conversation offers inspiring examples and practical ideas that can be applied within our own educational and cultural contexts.

The picture book has always been at the heart of Bologna and defines the world of children’s publishing. This session looks at how it is changing. Whether you are creating a visual poem, an educational series, or a fact-based book, the picture book remains one of the most inventive forms around. Panelist will discuss the challenge of finding fresh, surprising stories for the youngest readers and talk about their own experience and definitions of the picture book. If you are an illustrator or an artist looking to connect with publishers and peers to discuss the future of the form, this is a must attend event.

Bulgarian illustrators working across different media share their insights, artistic journeys, and challenges around creating art for picture books. The discussion brings together four contemporary illustrators who shape new directions in children's book publishing in Bulgaria. Their original artwork reflects major international trajectories while maintaining a distinctive and authentic visual expression.

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.

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 session will also feature the announcement of the shortlist for the second edition of the Prix de l’édition jeunesse africaine, launched by eKitabu, which aims to boost the visibility and reach of French-language books by African publishers across the continent and beyond.

Questo panel riunisce editori, studiosi di letteratura e bibliotecari per esaminare la scena odierna delle sfide e delle restrizioni ai libri per bambini e ragazzi, in un contesto storico e culturale più ampio. Esploreremo come le sfide odierne, spesso guidate da gruppi di advocacy ben organizzati, riecheggino storie più lunghe di censura, mettendo in evidenza al contempo il vivace movimento di resistenza che difende la libertà di leggere. La discussione presenterà iniziative come reti internazionali di libri vietati e biblioteche specializzate in opere censurate. Contemporaneamente, il panel affronterà anche quesiti più complessi: come distinguere tra censura e la riedizione di testi più vecchi per rimuovere stereotipi? E come possiamo sostenere l’accesso dei giovani lettori a racconti diversi, stimolanti e che offrano empowerment in un clima sempre più polarizzato?

Giunto alla sua X edizione, il Premio Luigi Malerba per l'albo illustrato si conferma punto di riferimento nazionale per la segnalazione di opere pensate per l'infanzia e l'adolescenza di particolare rilievo dal punto di vista letterario, artistico e formativo. La crescita - qualitativa e quantitativa - del settore editoriale dei picture book è confermata dalle opere giunte al concorso, i cui vincitori saranno resi noti nel corso di questo incontro presso BCBF, e dalla loro forma “ibrida”, che le rende adatte a un pubblico assai più ampio di quello dei bambini e delle bambine.