The 62^ Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF) opened its doors in the halls of BolognaFiere on March 31 to conclude on April 3. Along with this event will also take place BolognaBookPlus (BBPlus), in collaboration with the Italian Publishers Association and dedicated to generalist publishing, and Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids (BLTF/Kids), reserved for children’s trade brands.
Three events that have become an ecosystem across all sectors of publishing and beyond.
The 2025 edition features more than 1,500 exhibitors who have arrived from 95 countries and regions around the world, where new entries include Albania, Azerbaijan, Ecuador, Georgia, Guatemala, Iceland, Madagascar, Malta, North Macedonia, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
An offer made possible also thanks to the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation – MAECI, and ICE – Agency for the promotion abroad and internationalization of Italian companies, aimed at promoting business opportunities between domestic and global publishing.
62^ Bologna Children’s Book Fair: exhibition offerings are expanded
New additions 2025 include the Games Business Centre, in collaboration with the Frankfurt Buchmesse. Dedicated to gaming professionals on the hunt for narratives to turn into video games, this new space adds to the offer of business areas that includes, among others, the Comics Corner, the exhibition area dedicated to publishers of comics and graphic novels, specialized and not; the Translators’ Center, a privileged place for translators or those who intend to specialize in the translation of children’s literature. And again: the Book Lovers’ Café; an area dedicated to meetings on new publishing releases placed next to the International Bookshop and the Cafés, with the new The Next Chapter Café and Poetry Corner, curated by Junior Poetry Cultural Association.
62^ Bologna Children’s Book Fair: Pimpa and Pippi Longstocking, and more, have a birthday
Guest Country of Honor is Estonia, which boasts a vibrant and dynamic publishing market capable of offering high quality content spanning a variety of genres. The country on the Baltic Sea is also the focus of BolognaBookPlus’ Market of Honour, and the Talking Pictures competition dedicated to picture book design.
The 62^ Bologna Children’s Book Fair https://www.bolognachildrensbookfair.com/home/878.html will also be the stage for the celebration of several anniversaries. Starting with the 50th anniversary of Pimpa, created by Altan, while 80 years are those celebrated by Mumin and Pippi Longstocking, the protagonist of a panel with Donatella Di Pietrantonio, Beatrice Alemagna, Simona Vinci and the author’s great-grandson Johan Palmberg.
They touch sixty years of the BolognaRagazzi Awards, created to highlight the most beautiful and innovative picture books internationally. And ten are the candles blown out by the Premio Strega Ragazze e Ragazzi, an extension of the prestigious Italian literary award dedicated to children’s and young people’s literature in all its forms.
