Ahead of the 2022 edition, the Bologna Children’s Book Fair is embarking on a tour that will take in book fairs all over the world, enabling face-to-face meetings once again with members of the professional community. First stop: Frankfurt from 20 to 24 October
The Bologna Children’s Book Fair is now set to depart on a “Grand Tour” that will take in the main book fairs all over the world, bringing the best of illustrations and new trends in publishing for children and young people to its fond community of professionals, before welcoming everyone back to Bologna for the 59th edition from 21 to 24 March 2022.
New content and innovative ideas are already in planning, that will result a more extensive offer, and a greater international dimension next year. Behind these developments is the determination that in the last two years has led to the creation of many virtual initiatives that have transported the contents of the Fair well beyond its traditional confines
Travel is an integral part of BCBF’s DNA: now, ahead of March 2022 BCBF is embarking on a new journey, which will lead it to four prestigious international fairs. The Grand Tour is a project created in collaboration with ICE – the agency for internationalization and the promotion of Italian businesses abroad, thanks to which the Children’s Book Fair will serve as a foreign showcase for the best of Italian publishing for children and young people, bringing with it the activities and exhibitions produced in recent months.
The tour begins at the Frankfurt Book Fair, from 20 to 24 October, and will then continue to Sharjah International Book Fair (3-13 November 2021), Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara (27 November – 5 December 2021) and the Salon du livre et de la presse jeunesse de Montreuil (1-6 December 2021).
In Frankfurt, the Fair will have a 60 square metres stand allowing it to showcase many of the developments BCBF has spearheaded over its recent past, including BolognaBookPlus, soft launched last June as a new offering for international general trade publishing. Located in the heart of BCBF, BolognaBookPlus comprises a variety of exhibiting options, alongside the return of its successful training and content programme.
Exciting and integral features of the Grand Tour presence at Frankfurt are: The Illustrators Survival Corner, one of the most successful initiatives at the Bologna event – organised by Mimaster Illustrazione and in collaboration with BCBF – with workshops, portfolio reviews and “ask me anything” sessions with guests such as: Maria Sole Macchia (illustrator, Italy), Olga and Andrej Dugin (illustrators, Germany), Cecilia Flegenheimer (Art Director, Mondadori, Italy), Valentina Colombo (representative agent, Phileas Fogg Agency, Italy), Chris Haughton (illustrator and designer, Ireland), Steven Guarnaccia (illustrator and designer, USA), Giovanna Ballin (responsible for international rights and acquisitions, Corraini Edizioni, Italy). Masterclasses will be held on 21 October as part of the Survival Corner at the Movenpick Hotel Frankfurt City, Matterhorn Theatre: “Inside the picturebook”, by illustrator and designer Chris Haughton, and “Kids Books by Design”, by illustrator and designer Steven Guarnaccia. There will be a presentation of the 2022 editions of BCBF and BBPLUS, on 20 October (also at the Matterhorn Theatre at the Hotel Movenpick, adjacent to the fair). Speakers include: Paola Seghi (AIE – Associazione Italiana Editori, the BCBF partner for BolognaBookPlus), Francesco Alfonsi (ICE Agency, Berlin), Ahmed Al Ameri (Sharjah Book Authority) representative of Sharjah Guest of Honour BCBF 2022, Jacks Thomas (BolognaBookPlus), Marco Momoli (BolognaFiere) and Elena Pasoli (Bologna Children’s Book Fair).
In addition to the meetings are the exhibitions:
Italian Excellence – The new generation of children’s illustrators
Following the worldwide success of the two previous editions (“Illustration for children: Italian Excellence” and “Illustrators for Gianni Rodari. Italian Excellence”), presented in a total of over thirty countries around the world, the Bologna Children’s Book Fair’s promotion of Italian illustration continues with the third edition of the format: organised by the Bologna Children’s Book Fair/BolognaFiere in collaboration with the Emilia-Romagna regional administration and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and curated by the Giannino Stoppani Cooperative/Accademia Drosselmeier, Italian Excellence. The new generation of children’s illustrators presents the works of twenty young Italian illustrators chosen from among the most promising young artists in the sector, who, through their books, are renewing the tradition of high quality illustration in our country and their success is bringing the work to the attention of an international public.
Opened in digital form on the occasion of the 58th Bologna Children’s Book Fair on the BCBF Galleries portal, the exhibition will be set up inside the BCBF stand, and will display an illustration by each artist. There will be a programme of guided tours that can be booked on Eventbrite.
In the coming months, the exhibition will be presented in numerous venues around the world, through the network of Italian Cultural Institutes and beyond.
The illustrators whose work is on display at the exhibition are: Giacomo Agnello Modica, Andrea Antinori, Michael Bardeggia, Beatrice Cerocchi, Marianna Coppo, Francesca Corso, Cecilia Ferri, Chiara Ficarelli, Marta Pantaleo, Giulia Pastorino, Irene Penazzi, Alice Piaggio, Camilla Pintonato, Michelangelo Rossato, Veronica Ruffato, Lorenzo Sangió, Francesca Sanna, Luca Tagliafico, Giulia Tomai and Veronica Truttero.
Jackets Off. A selection
A selection of book covers chosen from the very best worldwide, each accompanied by the illustrated ‘journey’ that led to its creation, from the initial sketches to the intermediate versions. Produced as part of BolognaBookPlus 2021 in collaboration with Mimaster Illustrazione, the graphic projects that make up Jackets Off were selected by five experts (Steven Heller, art director, critic, author, and editor, USA; Cecilia Flegenheimer, art director Mondadori, Italy; Jon Gray, graphic designer, UK; Alice Beniero, illustrator and art director, Italy; Paul Buckley, senior VP Executive Creative Director Penguin Random House, USA). Part of the exhibition will be on display in Frankfurt and can be viewed in full online at BCBF Galleries.
Growing Young Readers – IBBY Italy 2021 Honour List
The main goal of IBBY International – the International Board on Books for Young people – is to promote the best national and international literature for children and make it accessible. Each year, IBBY’s eighty plus national sections are called upon to nominate their country’s best authors and illustrators for the major international awards, together with a selection of the best publications for children, collected in their respective Honour Lists. This year, for the first time, this work has been made available to everyone, thanks to the publication of the Italian Honour List: edited by Ibby Italia – of which BolognaFiere is one of the founding members. The selection aims to offer an informative tool not only to members but, more generally, to all those – teachers, librarians, booksellers, parents and, last but not least, young readers – who want to find out about Italian publishing for children and young people. The IBBY Italia Honour List will be presented to international publishers at the Frankfurt Fair, in an exhibition at the BCBF stand that will display all 70 titles on the Honour List. There will be a programme of guided tours, which can be booked on Eventbrite.
