2024 Event Programme

Winner The Extraordinary Award... For An Extraordinary Book: Bambini nascosti (Hidden Children), Vànvere edizioni, Italy. Text and illustrations by Franco Matticchio.

The Extraordinary Award for an Extraordinary Book is a special prize by Bologna Children's Book Fair created to acknowledge a title that has touched the Jury in an exceptional way.

Toddler Winner: Dia de Lua (Moon Day), Jujuba Editora, Brazil, 2023. Text and Illustrations by Renato Moriconi.

Through digital media, children and young adults experience new forms of reading and storytelling, within complex narrative worlds in which books are joined by movies and TV series, webcomics and webnovels, podcasts and audiobooks, immersive and interactive stories. Now in its 4th edition, the BolognaRagazzi CrossMedia Award explores these new forms of storytelling, selecting the best cross-media projects and the most effective screen reading experiences for children and teenagers.

The exhibition "Chinese Excellence in Children’s Illustration" showcases the best contemporary Chinese illustrators selected each year by a different Jury of leading Chinese and international experts, to present them to the international publishing community at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. The exhibition 2024 (HALL 30, B46-C33) and the catalogue feature the 15 artists selected by the Jury: 3 winners and 12 finalists.

Talking Pictures, a project curated by Steven Guarnaccia and Hamelin, investigates the best international visual book production, seeking innovation in illustration and publishing, and promoting alla forms of experimentation in picture books. For BolognaBookPlus, Talking Pictures focuses on the Ukrainian visual book scene. Ukraine has a very important and still too little-known tradition in the field of printmaking, illustration and design. Its visual books production is of the highest quality, and now seems like the right time to showcase it. This masterclass explores this production, highlighting both its historical perspectives and new trends in the contemporary market.

Find out more about The Illustrators Survival Corner.

The exhibition "Chinese Excellence in Children’s Illustration" showcases the best contemporary Chinese illustrators selected each year by a different Jury of leading Chinese and international experts, to present them to the international publishing community at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. The exhibition (HALL 30, B46-C33) and the catalogue feature the 15 artists selected by the Jury 2024: 3 winners and 12 finalists.

Opera Prima winner: Ko darīt, ja esi kails pilsētā (What to Do If You Are Naked in a City?), Janis Roze Publishers, Latvia, 2023. Text and Illustrations by Aleksandra Runde.

New Horizons SPECIAL JURY PRIZE Winner: 回憶見 (See You in Memories), Pen So Artlab, Hong Kong, China, 2022. Text and Illustrations by Pen So.

For the 7th edition, the Bologna Licensing Awards will be announced at a dedicated event at the heart of the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids. The award is a unique achievement, as it rewards the most innovative projects based on children and teen brands and products at an international level.

Fiction winner: Kintsugi, Libros del Zorro Rojo, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, CD de México, 2023, Text and Illustrations by Issa Watanabe.

Non-Fiction winner: Myko (Myco), Baobab, Czech Republic, 2023, Text by Jiří Dvořák, Illustrations by Daniela Olejníková.

Comics Young Adult winner: Il racconto della roccia (The Tale Of The Stone), Coconino Press, Italy, 2023, Text and Illustrations by BeneDì (Benedetta D'Incau).

Comics Early Reader winner: Comment naissent les arbres (How Trees Are Born), La Martinière Jeunesse, France, 2023, Text and Illustrations by Charles Berbérian.

Comics Middle Grade winner: Les Pissenlits (Dandelions), Éditions Sarbacane, France, 2022, Text and Illustrations by Nina Six.

 Presentazione del Premio Carla Poesio per la migliore tesi di laurea in letteratura per l'infanzia. Incontro con la giuria e con il vincitore di questa edizione, Matteo Lazzari, che presenterà la sua tesi “L’Israel dei bambini”: storia di un periodico per bambini nell’Italia del dopoguerra (1949-1952) e la collaborazione al giornalino di Emanuele Luzzati" che sarà pubblicata nel 2025 grazie al sostegno di BolognaFiere.

The Sea special category winner: Giù nel blu - Dalla superficie agli abissi: viaggio sottomarino sfogliabile (Down in the Blue - From the Surface to the Abyss: a Browsable Underwater Journey), Nomos Edizioni, Italy, 2021, Text by Gianumberto Accinelli, Illustrations by Giulia Zaffaroni.

The story of how the Chialab working group guided illustrator Inês Oliveira towards the creation of the Bologna Children's Book Fair Visual Identity2024. A look "behind the scenes" of the process and a glance to 2025.

Find out more about The Illustrators Survival Corner.

BCBF hosts every other year the winners of two prestigious children's book awards in the arts, the BIB - Biennial of Illustration Bratislava and the Hans Christian Andersen Award, to create the Illustrators Annual cover: the catalogue collecting all the works of the artists selected for the Illustrators Exhibition. The 2024 Illustrators Annual cover has been created by Paloma Valdivia, Chile, winner of the 2023 BIB Grand Prix.