The seventh edition of the Strega Girls and Boys Prize kicks off, promoted by 59Th Bologna Children’s Book Fair, with the Maria and Goffredo Bellonci Foundation and Strega Alberti Benevento, organizers of the Strega Prize, the Center for books and reading, BPer Banca and IBS .it Feltrinelli.
In competition the books published in Italy, also in translation, between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022. The three categories of the competition – one for books intended for female readers aged 6 to 7 (6+), one for readers from 8 to 10 years (8+), one for readers from 11 to 13 years (11+) and to the award for the best debut book, launched in 2021 -, this year the award is added to the best narration in images.
The award for the best storytelling in images
The new award, dedicated to graphic novels, comics, picture books and wordless books aimed at the same groups of readers, aged 6 to 13, is in line with the new world trends. That is, comics and graphic novels are among the fastest growing areas of publishing, while the production of illustrated books is growing, even without words.
The Scientific Committee, chaired by Giovanni Solimine, will select the three finalist books for the new award, which will be announced in March.
The winner will then be announced as part of the 59th Bologna Children’s Book Fair https://www.bolognachildrensbookfair.com/home/878.html, from 21 to 24 March at BolognaFiere, the ideal stage for an award that sees its fulcrum in the images. and its very origin.
Both the finalist triad and the winning book will be selected by the Scientific Committee. In addition to that for the author, there is also a prize for the illustrator of the winning work and one for the translator, if it is a book in translation.
In the meantime, BolognaFiere is preparing for the inauguration of the fair dedicated to children’s books, from 21 to 24 March. Also this year within the fair, now in its 59th edition, will take place – for the first time in attendance – BolognaBookPlus, an initiative aimed at general publishing. BolognaBookPlus’s goal is to expand the fair’s reach by targeting a wider professional audience in the global publishing industry.