The Bologna Book Fair provides a great stage for an impressive array of international prizes and contests celebrating excellence in all fields of the children’s publishing industry including books, illustrations, publishers, multimedia projects and licensing programmes.
The BCBF Awards family includes, in the first place, the world-renowned BolognaRagazzi Award aimed at selecting the finest illustrated books, with a spotlight on comics and graphic novels; the BRAW also embraces the BolognaRagazzi CrossMedia Award celebrating the best publishing projects that expand their narrative universe across different media. Furthermore, the BOP – Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year is the much-awaited recognition that acknowledges each year the top publishers on a global level. BCBF also casts light on children’s literature with the Premio Strega Ragazze e Ragazzi, the children’s section of Italy’s most coveted award for literature. Thanks to the high-profile recognition offered to all the winners, BCBF Awards create buzz in the industry and trigger additional right sales across many new countries.
The last addition to the Bologna Awards family is the Jacket Design Award by BolognaBookPlus, Book Jackets: Best of the Best. This year it is centred around the inaugural Market of Honour, Greece.
The Illustrators Exhibition showcases the winners of an international contest, for whom two prizes are reserved: the International Award for IllustrationBCBF/ Fundación SM and the ARS IN FABULA - Grant Award, both supporting young emerging artists.
This year BCBF presents also the winners of two international illustration contests: Italian Excellence. Illustrations for Italo Calvino and 60! Landscapes and Portraits of BCBF to mark its 60th edition.
The annual translation competition In Altre Parole is aimed at young translators working in Italian from a range of languages changing every year to encourage language diversity.
In order to embrace all forms of children’s content, BCBF also promotes the Bologna Licensing Awards, as part of the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair Kids, which rewards the best licensing projects realised in 2022.
BCBF promotes the Premio Carla Poesio, recognising outstanding dissertations in children’s literature in Italian Universities.
The BRAW honours the finest productions in terms of graphic and editorial qualities. As the BRAW key word is innovation, the prize represents an amazing opportunity to learn where the industry is heading through a first-hand understanding of ongoing trends and experimentation. Across the years, the BRAW has been a great international launch pad for authors and illustrators, leading to the sale of rights of the winning books in many new countries. The award encompasses four main categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Opera Prima (a prize for first-time authors and illustrators), and Comics. The annual special category is dedicated to Photography. The international jury can also confer a special New Horizons recognition, for particularly innovative books that introduce the readers to new visions and perspectives.
This edition saw 2349 books submitted by 644 publishers from 59 countries – an increase of 134 titles compared to 2022with the arrival for the first time on the tables of books from Bangladesh, Ciprus, Republic of North Macedonia, Malaysia, Puerto Rico, Venezuela.
LIMONERO
DORIS BREITMOSER MANAGING DIRECTOR ASSOCIATION FOR CHILDREN’S LITERATURE AKJ (GERMANY)
RICCARDO FALCINELLI GRAPHIC DESIGNER AND BEST-SELLING AUTHOR (ITALY)
ORNA GRANOT HEAD OF THE ILLUSTRATION LIBRARY THE ISRAEL MUSEUM (ISRAEL)
DEE LALLJEE THE BOOKERY, NOT-FORPROFIT INDEPENDENT BOOKSHOP (UK)
ARGENTINA TEXT AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY YAEL FRANKEL
With minimalist pencil and charcoal childlike drawings, restraint of form and colour and the use of orange and blue patterns, written and drawn from the perspective of a little boy waiting for a new sibling, this is a beautifully crafted book. The young narrator addresses the unborn baby with stories, thoughts and meaningful recollections, delightfully capturing everyday family life moments in time with a gentle humour, care and grace which adds to its quiet strength and authenticity. Every double spread is an enchanting method of expressing the universal within the personal, describing how families cope with change, before a new baby arrives.
FICTION SPECIAL MENTION
噔噔噔
21ST CENTURY PUBLISHING GROUP
CHINA
TEXT BY YU YI
ILLUSTRATIONS BY WANG ZUMIN
WHAT THE JURY SAID
This is a strange and humorous book with strong cover art and painterly illustrations. Told through a host of colourful animals bursting with character and personality and a good sense of absurd, Thump! Thump! Thump! (knock knock knock) is a book about neighborliness, friendship, preconceptions and communication, with a mischievous plot twist. It has a simple storyline based on the structure of the traditional children’s game where a message is whispered from one to another until it has been shared to everyone in the group. While the page layout is classical, the style of the illustration evokes the Art Brut movement. The artist makes good use of space and colour on each page, creating strong individual portraits, and everyone gets the opportunity to be the hero of the story, starting from the lady hens, the new neighbor.
SPINNE SPIELT KLAVIER
CARLSEN VERLAG GMBH GERMANY
TEXT AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY BENJAMIN GOTTWALD
WHAT THE JURY SAID
How many sounds can a picture suggest? This is a noisy silent book that invites the reader to read it aloud and explore sounds for over 100 double spreads. Using images from our immediate surroundings, Spider Plays Piano encourages a playful resounding reading experience. A perfect read-together book in a bold cartoon style, the rhythm and energy of the illustrations encourage a rapid interactive response. This is a book that you can sing, or clap, or scream, or whisper. Each time it is read the contribution from the reader creates a new composition. A book demonstrating the visual experience of sound where synesthesia turns into a playful multi sensual reading experience.
NCSOFT CORPORATION
SOUTH KOREA
TEXT AND ILLUSTRATIONS
BY JI YEON LEEWHAT THE JURY SAID
Nothing is too small to turn your gaze on it: in a world full of things this book is an invitation to pay attention to the tiny ones. This exquisitely designed leporello, executed on high quality white paper, accompanied by a precious box cover, drawn only in two colours: orange sign for the whole world and black for the ants, invites the reader to follow a magnified ant trail through the garden where a child is playing. Some pages are empty, some are crowded with ants, the reader is constantly reminded of the opposition between the tiny insects, moving in a consistent, determined way, and the expansion of the book as it unfolds into a whole universe.
BIG PICTURE PRESS (BONNIER BOOKS UK)
UNITED KINGDOM
TEXT BY DE NICHOLS
SPECIAL MENTION
ILLUSTRATIONSBY DIANA
DAGADITA, SADDO, OLIVIA TWIST, MOLLY MENDOZA, DIEGO BECASWHAT THE JURY SAID
“Everything is Art. Everything is Politics”. Combining photography, graphic design, meaningful quotes, high level of craftsmanship and exquisite binding, all the layers of Art of Protest inspire artistic political expression. A homage to art as protest, this innovative layout includes poster art, infographic, and clever use of typeset, promoting art as protagonist and protester. In the pages, the invitation to “Try this…” is a powerful yet gentle encouragement with a range of graphic examples, ending with an empowering call to action “Over to you. Our world right now is ripe for change…” This is a book filled with mission and purpose.
CHRONICLE BOOKS
USA
TEXT BY KATEY HOWES
ILLUSTRATIONS BY DINARA MIRTALIPOVA
WHAT THE JURY SAID
In Woven of the World the language of the loom is used to create a rhythmical story and becomes an intergenerational invitation and celebration of traditional textile artwork. In this book the subject matter of weaving is dealt with a combination of poetic language, elaborate illustration and typography, and is enriched by a substantial amount of historical and technical information inviting the reader to discover the topic in a beautiful and lyrical way. The success of this as a non-fiction book is the way in which it reflects deep informational, emotional and cultural research: the perfect book to share in this post pandemic age with the increasing resurgence of interest in traditional skills and sustainable handicrafts.
OGLEDALO BEZ MANA
MALA ZVONA D.O.O.
CROATIA
TEXT AND ILLUSTRATION BY AGATA LUČIĆ
WHAT THE JURY SAID
This book is an expression of teenage angst in the selfie age, an era when the smart phone has become a mirror. Unwanted body hair and pimples become art in a journey to self-acceptance. Breaking traditional concepts with artistic means, the use of lines and colour solicit acceptance, encourages self-reflection and challenges the standardization of beauty in Western society. Uncomfortable at times, these images bring our distorted constructions of beauty to the surface,
body hair becoming it’s own character. The very reduced text and clever typography sometimes fills a double spread and at times a single word on a page. This gives the text a space to echo selftalk and the spreads transform not just singular images into portraits, but into a body, a fragment of the body, and then the book becomes the body. On one page the body expands out of the frame, opening up a new perspective on feminine and beauty.
ALBOROTO EDICIONES
MEXICO
TEXT BY MARÍA JOSÉ FERRADA
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANA PALMERO CÁCERES
Read this book with your eyes closed! To discover the treasure of The Purse delve into this book as if you are reaching into a bag to uncover what’s inside. The basic concept is the accessible notion of going through a bag without looking. The joy of this book is an invitation for visually able and visually impaired readers to read together. The lyrical rhythm of the language corresponds to the touchable images, and the reduced text, simple graphics, tactile images and braille transform a humble format into a charming product that rejoices in the everyday. The inclusion of the Braille alphabet inspires everyone to read this book through the medium of touch, and this simple act makes it particularly special.
VERSANT SUD
BELGIUM
TEXT AND ILLUSTRATION BY
LAURA SIMONATIWHAT THE JURY SAID
An unusual story about being unusually big. Inspired by a true story from the rural Sud Tyrol in the 19th century, the gigantic protagonist moves from invisibility to visibility on a physical journey that parallels her journey to self-acceptance. The impressive printing technique using an antitechnicolor approach and mixing of brown, dark green and pink creates a down to earth, grounded feeling throughout the book, and the naïve folk-art style painting is very modern in it’s approach. The interplay between the painted images and hand lettering, presented in a sequence of double spreads each with an original layout, enables the reader to share the story from a personal point of view. This is a strong debut, and we would like to commend the bold selection of subject matter and upcoming artist.
THE BLUE: BENCH
STUDIO WOOM
SOUTH KOREA
TEXT AND ILLUSTRATION BY MIA
WHAT THE JURY SAID
You never know who will sit next to you when you are on a bench! This understated french door structure is like a stage with two small booklets inside, facing one and other. This design deals with two possible story lines that encounter one and other - people, objects, and landscapes all change to make a total of 121 scenes. The special monochromatic nature of the book makes the reader focus on the unique format and creates a lingering attachment to the book. This creative design layout creates a story that starts with the individual and evolves to culminate in a group gathering and a community panorama.
Over the last few years, the growth of the comic book and graphic novel market has been staggering. A rising interest is clear to see across the world in the children’s industry too, with a notable increase in publications both by comics publishers and traditional children’s book publishers. With more graphic novels and comic books being shortlisted and winning prestigious literary prizes, this is indeed a very exciting time for this unique medium which appeals to a broad range of readers. This vibrant landscape has been recognised by the BRAW Comics’ fourth edition with titles submitted from all over the world. To judge this category, divided into three subsections (Early Reader, Middle Grade, Young Adult), BCBF has brought together a board of internationally acclaimed experts.
ROEL DAENEN
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF THE LITERARY MAGAZINE STRIPGIDS AND COMMUNICATION MANAGER FARO (BELGIUM)
IGORT
ILLUSTRATOR AND DIRECTOR OF COMICS MAGAZINE “LINUS” (ITALY)
BILL KARTALOPOULOS
PROGRAMMING
DIRECTORFOR THE MOCCA ARTS FESTIVAL (USA)
HSIN YI PUBLICATIONS
TAIWAN
TEXT AND ART BY SUN JUN
WHAT THE JURY SAID
Whose Sock? adapts the repetition and variation of a classic early reader narrative to the comic book format with immaculate precision as a small black cat searches for the owner of an unusual yellow sock. A journey from floor to floor of an apartment building crowded with a humorous menagerie of anthropomorphic characters that represent the diversity of urban communities. The book itself overflows with gags and graphic inventions that make for rich reading and rereading even as the main character pursues his objective. Sun Jun makes excellent use limited color throughout. Because of all these qualities and more, the jury chose this work as the winner of the BRAW Comics for early readers.
GRASSET JEUNESSE
FRANCE
TEXT AND ART BY SANDRINE KAO
WHAT THE JURY SAID
Kawaii characters dance through a floating world landscape as poetic language sensitively describes the bittersweet emotional experiences of the self encountering the other and the family discovering the world. The oversized album makes full and dynamic use of the canvas of the page to render a rich and immersive environment through which delicate emotions can safely echo.
PLANETA TANGERINA
PORTUGAL
TEXT AND ART BY HENRIQUE COSER MOREIRA
WHAT THE JURY SAID
This wordless comic delights in its fluid employment of the basic mechanics of the comics form just as its child protagonists delights in the simple pleasures of the first day of spring. Tiny, elegant, sweet yet still rigorous, this minimalist book is a miniature delight.
UN MATIN
LA PARTIE
FRANCE
TEXT BY JÉRÔME DUBOIS
ART BY LAURIE AGUSTI
WHAT THE JURY SAID
Un Matin begins with a dream into which the main character — and the reader — are gently pulled: all of the colours in the world — and thus the book — are mysteriously gone, and the world is reduced to black and white. In addition to the rigorous abstraction of the drawing, the book offers the reader an element of choice: at the end of every ‘section’, it’s up to us to choose from different narrative options as we decide which page to turn to. This playful and poetic story offers the reader a true element of interaction as we
join the authors in determining the path this story will take. Immaculate visual storytelling weaves through richly detailed artwork that makes subtle nods to all kinds of (recognizable) references from pop culture, further inviting re-reading and re-experiencing. Every aspect of this book is designed to support a surprising, effective and ultimately unique reading experience that is both visually and narrative exciting (where did the colors go?). The jury is proud to award the BRAW Comics Prize for the Middle Grade to Un Matin
MIDDLE GRADE SPECIAL MENTION
BEAR BOOKS INC.
SOUTH KOREA
TEXT AND ART BY KYU-AH KIM
WHAT THE JURY SAID
Emotional relationships between family members can be as fragile as the ceramic rabbit that lies broken in the opening pages of Kyu-Ah Kim’s sensitive emotional narrative. An animal guide leads two embattled siblings into a parallel world of living shadows within which they can safely process the drama of their bruised emotions and reestablish the bonds that connect them to one another. The soft tones of Kyu-Ah Kim’s colored pencils lure the reader unsuspectingly into the shadow theater of this book, a story about loss, affection, pleasure, family ties, and all the things that follow us like our shadows.
MIDDLE GRADE SPECIAL MENTION
HOUSE OF DRACULA
DOGBOOKS
SOUTH KOREA
TEXT BY 5UNDAY
ART BY HEEDAE YUN
WHAT THE JURY SAID
This modestly formatted comic book is a wonderful work of wordless storytelling enriched by a wise use of narrative framing and of graphic design. The author makes productive use of familiar horror-themed characters from popular culture, resituated here in a fresh, contemporary context. Colorfully psychedelic and full of humor, this book will challenge young readers to discover dozens of humorous, hidden details as they are irresistibly drawn by the beauty of the drawings to read this story again and again.
GALLIMARD JEUNESSE
FRANCE
TEXT AND ART NOÉMIE WEBER
WHAT THE JURY SAID
This exemplary work depicts a dreamlike voyage that deals sensitively, poetically and engagingly with the loss of a pet and the challenge of forming early relationships. Weber’s virtuosic linework can be both restrained and exuberant, recalling the pen and ink linework of Tove Jansson. Her sense of offbeat fantasy and intelligent page design recalls make her character Elsa a descendent of Fred’s Philemon. Her use of constrained but variable color pallets throughout employs the four color press with the sensitivity of a silkscreen printmaker.
PIE INTERNATIONAL INC.
JAPAN
TEXT AND ART BY SAKANA SAKATSUKI
WHAT THE JURY SAID
Sakana Sakatsuki stands at the forefront of a new wave of fantastic narrative that adapt the tropes of science fiction to process the subtle sentiments of an uncertain present. Surprising in its delicacy and innovation, Sakatsuki synthesizes stylistic elements of manga with elements of western culture to recount the restlessness and loneliness of a young space traveler. Simultaneously epic and intimate, Ghost Travel expresses and re-expresses the tonal
heart of its narrative conceit in a variety of visual styles and and aesthetic languages. These include color illustrations accompanied by small poetic texts and monochrome comics sequences which introduce his narrative world. We are proud to award the BRAW Comics Prize for Young Adults to this innovative breakthrough work which signals the start of Sakatsuki’s Star Tripper series of narrative manga, the first volume of which has also recently been published.
L’ARTICHO FRANCE
TEXT AND ART BY LOÏC FROISSART
WHAT THE JURY SAID
Aujourd’hui (“Today”) takes the reader chronologically through a school day, recording events that take place between 8h15 — when the children arrive at school — and 17h, when the school day is finally over. The author uses his own experiences as a teacher to recount the tiny events — dramatic, silly, funny, and always relatable — that make up the living organism of an educational community over the course of a day. Populated by brightly colored, stylized characters, each page and sequence covers just a few minutes in time to compile a precisely observed narrative that feels as if it has been overheard rather than told.
AVANT L’OUBLI
L’EMPLOYÉ DU MOI
BELGIUM
TEXT AND ART BY LISA BLUMEN
WHAT THE JURY SAID
Bittersweet reflection and a longing for meaning and connection pervade this stunning pre-apocalyptic novel. Each intimate chapter pauses over the private drama of individual characters forced to chose what to do with the rest of their lives when the end of the world may be no further away than the end of the week. Connections both chosen and unknown are revealed to the reader as each chapter coheres into an abstractly interlinked narrative. Throughout, Blumen’s graphite artwork is as unfussy over details as it is precise in its depiction of body language and its visual exposition.
STUDIO MARY
HONG KONG, CHINA
TEXT AND ART BY CHIVAS LEUNG
WHAT THE JURY SAID
This story of life under eternal darkness is understated and richly emotional throughout. Style and format combine to support a gentle but sophisticated emotional narrative. The book’s graphite linework, printed on rough, newsprint paper, makes the book feel like a journal or a visual letter from a friend. Inventive use of limited spot color — yellow and blue — enrich the narrative at moments precisely calibrated for maximum impact and further promote an empathetic connection between the reader and the story.
The special category of BRAW 2023 shines a light on photography, to take stock of the extent to which photography is an integral part of children’s books throughout the world. This new Special Section of the BolognaRagazziAward will provide a 10-year overview of publications featuring photography, including re-prints of classical works. To judge this special category, BCBF has appointed a committee composed of renowned photography and children’s books experts
SEEN AND UNSEEN: WHAT DOROTHEA LANGE, TOYO MIYATAKE, AND ANSEL ADAMS’S PHOTOGRAPHS REVEAL ABOUT THE JAPANESE AMERICAN INCARCERATION
CHRONICLE BOOKS
USA
TEXT BY ELIZABETH PARTRIDGE IMAGES BY LAUREN TAMAKIMEMBERS OF THE 2023 JURY
WALTER GUADAGNINI DIRECTOR OF CAMERA – CENTRO ITALIANO PER LA FOTOGRAFIA (ITALY)
LAURENCE LE GUEN AUTHOR OF A THESIS ON PHOTOLITTERATURE FOR CHILDREN, EXHIBITION CURATOR AND RESEARCH FELLOW AT THE CELLAM LABORATORY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF RENNES 2 AND AT KU LEUVEN (FRANCE)
JUNKO YOKOTA
PROFESSOR EMERITUS AT NATIONAL LOUIS UNIVERSITY AND DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR TEACHING THROUGH CHILDREN’S BOOKS (USA)
WHAT THE JURY SAID
The jury selected this book for the ways in which photography plays a seminal role in telling this story. Through expository texts, thought-provoking questions, documents, photographs, and original illustrations, readers are offered a complex set of ways to make sense of what happened in the camp. Three photographers’ works offer differing perspectives: Lange, through her lens of protest of the incarceration, Miyatake, through his hidden camera and an insider perspective as a Japanese American, and Adams, through his landscape photography and focus on the loyalty of the Japanese Americans as US citizens. This book pays homage to the power of photography in documenting and revealing circumstances that were kept impounded and hidden from public view during the war.
PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL MENTION
QUI VEUT JOUER AVEC MOI?
ÉDITIONS DES GRANDES PERSONNES
FRANCE
TEXT AND IMAGES BY CLAIRE DÉ
WHAT THE JURY SAID
This child-centric book invites young readers to turn the pages of a summer of dreams. Through beautiful graphic images, the artist plays with distances: showing the overall as well as closeups, the focused as well as the blurred. Her characters are dressed with primary-colored stripes and polka dots, stripes and checks. The photographs are full of signs to be deciphered, and of references to other famous stories.
PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL MENTION
CACHE-CACHE CAUCHEMARS
ÉDITIONS THIERRY MAGNIER
FRANCE
TEXT AND IMAGES BY JEAN LECOINTRE
WHAT THE JURY SAID
The artist offers a very contemporary version of photomontage technique with his scanned, cut, assembled, and then digitally-coloured images. He plays with the ambiguous relationship that photography has with reality by transforming domestic environments into places of nightmare. In so doing Lecointre reveals the theater that is in the child’s mind whenever playing or dreaming, and transforms children’s fears into moments of humor.
PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL MENTION
PALLAS EDITORA
BRAZIL
TEXT AND IMAGES BY FLÁVIA BOMFIM
WHAT THE JURY SAID
The blue color used in this book is reminiscent of early cyanotype printing techniques. The photographs are printed on linen, and ornamental stitching elements embellish and add another level of interpretation to the narrative. The embroidery references the protagonist’s stitching while imprisoned for revolting against the mistreatment of sailors in Brazil. Mixing media is typical of contemporary artistic and photographic languages. In this way, the author weaves the story of a life from the past to the present.
Set-up in 2021, this publishing prize aims to select great books arising from multimedia projects, and also the best narratives that have been successfully adapted across other platforms. The International Jury of the Award, composed of experts in interactive and graphic design, new media, video game, film and television works, aims to identify narratives that from traditional publishing have been able to convincingly migrate, intersect or expand to other platforms, such as television and cinema screens, video game consoles, mobile devices, and smart speakers. This year, the international jury examined over 90 projects, selecting 10, from which the prizes in the two categories Crossmedia projects and Digital Reading Libraries and the special mentions were chosen.
CRISTINA ANGELUCCI
EXPERT IN THE LICENSING AND KIDS ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS (ITALY)
WARREN BUCKLEITNER
PROFESSOR AND REVIEWER OF CHILDREN’S INTERACTIVE MEDIA (USA)
JULIE FOX
EXPERT IN ANIMATION BUSINESS (FRANCE)
ROBERTA FRANCESCHETTI
MAMAMÒ AND CONTENTMAKERS (ITALY)
NEAL HOSKINS
FOUNDER OF WINGEDCHARIOT FOCUSING ON DIGITAL PUBLISHING PROJECTS (UK)
IGNACIO MENEU OSET
PROFESSOR AT THE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF VALENCIA, SPECIALIST IN 2D AND 3D ANIMATION (SPAIN)
A wonderful evocation of moving home, rendered beautifully and with great sensitivity in both print and animation. Sometimes we cannot put words on big events in our lives until long after. And so it seems fitting that Otthon (Home) is a wordless portrayal both in book and movie forms of a child’s reaction to something so life changing as moving home. The author tells us a universal story of the nature of connections, with effortless storytelling and a fluid and poetic imagery that almost floats with the family and their many different feelings about home. Otthon also tells a story of our connections to nature - immutable even when we are not. The jury has appreciated the exquisite cinematographic quality of the short movie, which takes care of the image composition and is accompanied by a magnificent soundtrack that perfectly describes the story.
Theprizestrengthening theconnectionbetween thedigitalandbookworlds
ABRAMS BOOKS
USA
TEXT BY CECE BELL
ANIMATED SERIES
PRODUCED BY WILL MCROBB, CECE BELL, CLINT ELAND, CLAIRE FINN, SARA BOTTFELD
WHAT THE JURY SAID
What started as a graphic novel has been creatively transformed into a wonderful animated tv series, without losing any of its original power. It’s a reminder that we all have special needs; and it gives the viewer a tool kit for rethinking one’s disability, with a message for anyone who worries about fitting in.
The author figures out very early on in life how to make the most of her disability by turning it into a superpower. And by doing so shows how we can all be not just ordinary but extraordinary too, if we are positive, creative and surrounded by communities who support us. Thus, the story speaks to us about acceptance of diversity and bullying, while employing humour and adventures that makes it very attractive for all audiences.
DIRT LANE PRESS
AUSTRALIA
TEXT BY MATT OTTLEY
MUSIC, AUDIOBOOK AND SHORT MOVIE
PRODUCED BY TINA WILSON
WHAT THE JURY SAID
A beautiful, thought provoking and touching multimedia work for young adults/adults which succeeds in its stated aim of ‘contributing to the ongoing discussion around mental illness in a way that leads to greater understanding… to empathy and compassion’. Through illustration, text, a short movie and music, the project poetically allows us to traverse the darkness and emotional challenges together with the artist, musicians, choir. We thus learn how art in all its forms can help us make sense of the dark, find the light, as well as our way home to ourselves. While the illustrations may be upsetting to younger children, the topic of dealing with depression is addressed with beauty, creativity, and refreshing honesty.
GALLIMARD JEUNESSE
FRANCE
TEXT BY PÉNÉLOPE BAGIEU
ANIMATED TV SERIES, LIVE EVENTS, EXHIBITION AND MERCHANDISING PRODUCED BY SILEX FILMS
WHAT THE JURY SAID
An inspiring tv series, live events, exhibitions and merchandising, all taken from a wonderful series of graphic novels, that offer us an alternative history of feminism, through thirty portraits of women who struggled against the social norms of their times. Educating the young generation on the subject of gender equality should always be a priority, and this work manages to make known the stories of women from all backgrounds, all identities, their dreams, ambitions and how they are capable of breaking down stereotypes that exist around them. It does it with shrewd humour and perceptiveness.
FONFON CANADA
WEB BASED CREATIVE PLATFORM
PRODUCED BY AKUFEN STUDIO
WHAT THE JURY SAID
A web-based interactive platform for ages 4-12 that allows children to create their own stories using the engaging visual elements — characters, sets, accessories — taken from several albums from the publisher’s book collection, including The Matchstick Soup. The jury has appreciated the fun, creative and rewarding story-making experience: the different features available to users, such as writing text, selecting scenery and images, recording their voice, publishing and sharing their story with their friends and family, as well as the activities suggested to teachers with reading and writing workshops.
CROSSMEDIA
SPECIAL MENTION
BÜCHERPIRATEN
GERMANY
OPEN MULTILINGUAL DIGITAL LIBRARY PRODUCED BY BÜCHERPIRATEN
WHAT THE JURY SAID
A treasure trove for children who love opening doors with new words, who come from multilingual backgrounds or maybe just want to dive into other worlds before they ever get there. The jury has appreciated the social value of the project: 170 volunteers translating into 77 languages, access to free downloads, international collaborations between refugee and immigrant children creating new books with children of their host country. With migration such a big issue in our world today, this ‘library for idealists’ goes a long way to help people understand and learn from each other through their own words and pictures.
The prize is the children’s section of the Premio Strega, Italy’s most important recognition for literature. The main purpose of the award is to find out which books young people love to read thanks to its unique selection process which includes a jury composed of children and teenagers. The announcement of the winners of the categories 6+, 8+, 11+ and best debut in novel takes place at Più Libri Più Liberi Book Fair in Rome. For the second year, the award presents a category for the best narrative in pictures reflecting surging global trends. The winner of this new category is announced during BCBF. The Premio Strega Ragazze e Ragazzi also recognises the importance of translation – if the book is from abroad – with a prize awarded to the translator too.
While waiting for the announce of the 2023 winner of the Best Narrative in Pictures category, we look back to the 2022 winner announced at BCBF 2022.
This is the goal of the BOP Prize, organised by BCBF in partnership with AIE – Italian Publishers Association and IPA – International Publishers Association, to highlight the top children’s publishers across the world. What makes it so special is that the award is given by the publishers themselves, exhibiting at the Fair, who are asked to nominate every year those publishing houses that have stood out that year in terms of their creativity, innovation, and the quality of their editorial choices. Six prizes are awarded by geographical area – Africa, Caribbean, Central and South America, North America, Asia, Europe and Oceania – fostering the mutual exchange of knowledge and culture between different nations.
Akoma Mba (Cameroon)
Ouida Books (Nigeria)
Ruisseaux d’Afrique (Republic of Benin)
Trinta Zero Nove (Mozambique)
Mudacumura Publishing House (Rwanda)
Mirae Media & Books (South Korea)
Poplar Publishing Co. (Japan)
Gloyeon (South Korea)
Epigram Books (Singapore)
Wonder House Books (India)
Kite Edizioni (Italy)
Pato Lógico (Portugal)
Etana Editions (Finland)
Baobab Books (Switzerland)
The Old Lion (Ukraine)
Ediciones Liebre (Chile)
Editorial Amanuta (Chile)
Calibroscopio (Argentina)
Iamiqué (Argentina)
Cataplum Libros (Colombia)
Abrams (USA)
Owlkids (Canada)
Red Comet Press (USA)
Orca book publishers (Canada)
La courte èchelle (Canada)
Affirm Press (Australia)
Magabala Books (Australia)
EK Books (Australia)
Wilkins Farago (Australia)
Starfish Bay (Australia)
Jacket design in general trade publishing has become more important than ever, as titles compete for attention in an increasingly competitive landscape and in both physical and digital worlds. There has been a significant rise in appreciating cover design as an art form once again. Jackets give face to a book’s personality, can be a quick way to signal genre and hint of the words inside. Each nation communicates something of its individual style and personality through its books and their covers. This year the Best of the Best contest is exclusively focusing on, and celebrating the work of, the publishers from the inaugural Market of Honour, Greece. By narrowing the field to one region, it enables a sharper focus on a range of works from one culture and language, encouraging deeper debate, and celebrating a rich publishing sector.
All participating Greek publishers submit one book jacket, and the announcement of the winner will be during the Fair at the BBPlus Theatre. The longlist of jacket images is on display in the BBPlus Hall 29.
BEST PRESCHOOL LICENSING PROJECT SEL — PUBLISHING PROGRAM
BRAND
SESAME STREET
LICENSOR
SESAME WORKSHOP PARTNER
LERNER PUBLISHING GROUP
The Bologna Licensing Awards are the only international prizes devoted to the most innovative children’s licensing projects produced in the previous 12 months. This year, these awards have been enhanced, with the introduction of a new category, the Best Licensed Toy Project. And finally, the Best Children’s Property of the Year, a stalwart in the offering, returns once again.
MEMBERS OF THE 2023 JURY
IVAN COLECCHIA
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT, KIDZ GLOBAL (ITALY)
HELENA MANSELL-STOPHER
CEO AND FOUNDER OF PRODUCTS OF CHANGE (UK)
JUTTA BREYER
MANAGING DIRECTOR OF LICENSE FACTORY GMBH (GERMANY)
SUSANNA IRACI
TOY DESIGNER BICCO DESIGN FOR KIDS (ITALY)
DAVID KLEEMAN
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF GLOBAL TRENDS FOR DUBIT (USA)
BEST KIDS LICENSING PROJECT MCDONALD’S HAPPY MEAL & THE SMURFS
BRAND
THE SMURFS
LICENSOR IMPS PARTNER
CREATA GMBH
BEST TEEN LICENSING PROJECTPOKÉMON FOR RINASCENTE BRAND POKÉMON
LICENSOR THE POKÉMON COMPANY INTERNATIONAL PARTNER LA RINASCENTE
BEST RETAIL PROJECT BARBALOUVRE BRAND
BARBAPAPA LICENSOR
TF1 LICENSING PARTNER
LOUVRE MUSEUM
BEST FASHION PROJECT ADIDAS FOR HELLO KITTY BRAND
HELLO KITTY LICENSOR SANRIO GMBH PARTNER ADIDAS
BEST LICENSED PUBLISHING PROJECT LUDATTICA FOR ERIC CARLE BRAND
THE WORLD OF ERIC CARLE LICENSOR
THE WORLD OF ERIC CARLE AGENT
WILDBRAIN CPLG PARTNER LUDATTICA
BEST LICENSED TOY PROJECT LE STORIE DELLA NUVOLA OLGA
BRAND
NUVOLA OLGA
LICENSOR
NICOLETTA COSTA PARTNER
FABA SRL
BEST LICENSED KIOSK PRODUCT HACHETTE FASCICOLI FOR PEANUTS BRAND
PEANUTS LICENSOR
PEANUTS WORLDWIDE AGENT
WILDBRAIN CPLG PARTNER
HACHETTE FASCICOLI
BEST LICENSED PROMOTION/ LOYALTY CAMPAIGN MINIONS MARKET MANIA! SOUND COLLECTION
BRAND
MINIONS
LICENSOR
NBCUNIVERSAL PARTNER
JAKALA S.P.A.
PROPERTY OF THE YEAR BLUEY BRAND
BLUEY LICENSOR
BBC STUDIOS
AGENT
MAURIZIO DISTEFANO ADVISORY SRL
SPECIAL MENTION: BEST SUSTAINABLE PROJECT ECOVER FOR MR. MEN, LITTLE MISS BRAND
MR. MEN, LITTLE MISS LICENSOR
SANRIO GMBH PARTNER ECOVER
4,345artistsfrom91countries andterritoriessenttheir workforthe2023Illustrators
2023WINNINGILLUSTRATORS
MEMBERS OF THE 2023 JURY
GUSTI TEACHER, ILLUSTRATOR AND AUTHOR, WINNER OF THE BOLOGNARAGAZZI AWARD
2016 IN THE SPECIAL CATEGORY DEDICATED TO DISABILITY FOR THE BOOK MALLKO AND DAD (ARGENTINA/SPAIN)
CHRISTINE MORAULT FOUNDER OF ÉDITIONS MEMO (FRANCE)
SIDNEY SMITH AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR, WINNER OF FOUR CONSECUTIVE NEW YORK TIMES BEST ILLUSTRATED CHILDREN’S BOOKS AWARDS AND TWO KATE GREENAWAY AWARDS (CANADA)
The Illustrators Exhibition is the result of an international contest and the winners are the artists selected by an international jury of experts. They become the stars in the bright sky of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair: on show at the heart of the fair, included in the Illustrators Annual, and then presented in a two year tour, regularly across Japan, China, South Korea, and often to other countries in Europe and America. More prizes and opportunities are connected with the Illustrators Exhibition: the BCBF - Fundación SM International Award for Illustration and the Ars in Fabula Grant Award.
ERIC TELFORT ILLUSTRATOR, ARTIST AND TEACHER OF DIGITAL ILLUSTRATION AND CHARACTER DESIGN AT RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN (USA)
ERIK TITUSSON FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE ASTRID LINDGREN MEMORIAL AWARD, FOUNDER OF LILLA PIRATFÖRLAGET, AN INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER OF QUALITY CHILDREN’S LITERATURE (SWEDEN).
This year the jury chose 79 sets of illustrations by 80 artists from 28 countries and territories of the world.
Emma Akerman
Pablo Alvarez
Andrea Antinori
Takako Aoki
Anna Aparicio Català
Ksenia Avramova
James Barker
Rahele Bell
Cathy Benetti
Flávia Bomfim
Beatrice Cerocchi
Wei Hsuan Chen
Giovanni Colaneri
Golden Cosmos
Yao Dan
Maria Jose De Telleria
Dipacho
Petronela Dostalova
Yuliya Drobova
Laila Ekboir
Yuqin Fan
Mijangos Amanda
Armando Fonseca
Vera Gereke
Alireza Goldouzian
Marcos Guardiola
Santiago Guevara
Gosia Herba
Diandian Hu
Liang-Hsin Huang
Idoia Iribertegui
Maria Jönsson
ILLUSTRATORS ANNUAL
Forest Xiao Lin
Julianna Litkei
Jeanne Macaigne
Jess Mahy
Marc Majewski
Anete Melece
María Elina Méndez
Luise Mirdita
Manuela Montoya Escobar
Henrique Moreira
Anita Mottaghi
Jeong-in Mun
Marianna Oklejak
Hsinping Pan
Benjamin Phillips
Polya Plavinskaya
Maite Rosende
Mariana Ruiz Johnson
Aleksandra Runde
Sachie Sabu Ward
Noushin Sadeghian
Pamela Samel
Lorenzo Sangiò
Ami Shin
Tereza Šiklová
Catarina Sobral
Li Su
Tomoko Suzuki
Miguel Tanco
Chieko Terasawa
Cristian Turdera
Yulia Tveritina
Fanny Undritz
Inês Oliveira Viegas
Liuna Virardi
Chunhua Wang
Minru Wang
Peng Wu
Yalan Xu
Tongtong Yu
Majid Zakeri Younesi
Ekaterina Zakharova
Xiaoyang Zhang
of details, and for the ability to create a very precise, believable and immersive world that gives rise to whoever looks at it to imagine it beyond the illustration and want to enter it.
FROM THE JURY REPORT
This award was created in 2009 by BCBF and Fundacion SM to discover, encourage and support new talent in illustration. The prize is reserved for those artists under 35 selected for the Illustrators Exhibition, and provides a grant to allow the artist to develop a picturebook, which is subsequently published by the Spanish publisher SM. The original illustrations of the book are also presented at the following edition of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. This year’s fair presents the exhibitions of the 2022 winner: Andrés López (Mexico), on display at the Fair’s Services Centre.
Born in Mexico City, Andrés López has always had a profound interest in narration. Writing, drawing and creating opened up worlds he could then explore in books and notebooks.
After deciding engineering was not for him, Andrés studied design and then narrative illustration at the UNAM Faculty of Art, graduating in 2017. In the same year, he won the poster contest “Inviemos a Leer” of the Feria Internacional del Libro Infantil y Juvenil, and in 2018 the Catalogue Award of professional illustrators prize at the same fair. In 2018 and 2020, he submitted his work to SM’s Iberoamerican Competition and was selected on both occasions. His book Pantera was chosen as one of the 100 best books at the 2019 Bologna Children’s Book Fair, and in 2022 the illustrations of his Gigante en la orilla won the BCBF- Fundaciòn SM International Award for Illustration. His books have been released by various publishers in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Italy, Brazil, Spain, United States, the Netherlands, China, South Korea and Belgium.
Volver a mirar: many years ago, there was a man with an immense curiosity about the sky. He spent a lot of time looking at it. He wanted the others to see what he saw, but they were always too busy to listen to him. In the end, the man gave up, his curiosity withered and he stopped looking at the sky, just like the others. One day, the man walked a lot and got lost. Suddenly, he saw before him a huge hole. From it came thousands of birds that filled the sky like a whirlwind of color. And everyone paused to look at them.
A story about the importance of staying curious about what surrounds us.
the quality of the composition, the evocative representation of nature with a strong pictorial texture and a traditional style of great meticulousness in the treatment
To mark the centenary of the birth of Italo Calvino, BCBF created a unique programme of celebration: an exhibition of published illustrations of Calvino’s works and an international contest. Illustrators from all over the world were invited to offer their personal visions of the characters, places and ideas in Calvino’s novels for young readers: 521 artists from 47 countries and regions took part in the competition. Among them, 30 artists were selected by a jury made of the partners of the initiative, a graphic designer and a publisher. The winners’ 60 illustrations are now part of the comprehensive exhibition, “Eccellenze Italiane. Illustrations for Italo Calvino” first presented at the Fair before leaving for an international tour.
Both the Exhibition and the catalogue - published by Mondadori - are curated by Accademia Drosselmeier/ Cooperativa Giannino Stoppani.
FERNANDO AMBROSI
ART DIRECTOR MONDADORI RAGAZZI
ZOSIA DZIERŻAWSKA
CO-FOUNDER ARMADILLO
SEBASTIÁN GARCÍA SCHNETZER
LIBROS DEL ZORRO ROJO
GRAZIA GOTTI
CO-FOUNDER GIANNINO STOPPANI AND ACCADEMIA DROSSELMEIER
ELENA PASOLI
BOLOGNA CHILDREN’S BOOK FAIR
SILVANA SOLA
CO-FOUNDER GIANNINO STOPPANI AND ACCADEMIA DROSSELMEIER
Francesca Aiello
Mariana Alcántara Pedraza
Francesca Ballarini
Vania Barbato
Ewa Beniak-Haremska
Tzu-Chun Chang
Kun-Sen Chiang
Mary Collier Fleet
Vera Gereke
Lyuba Haleva
Veronyka Jelinek
Moonyo Lee
Anna Marzuttini
Katarzyna Minasowicz
Matias Javier Muzzillo
Marco Palena
Arianna Papini
Hyunmin Park
Federica Pavan
Pere Ginard
Natalie Pudalov
Ginevra Rapisardi
Marina Ruiz
Tanja Salomäki
Marco Sandreschi
Edoardo Sciarra
Lorena Spurio
Bruno Valasse
Lucy Wynne
Ana Zavadlav
LANDSCAPESANDPORTRAITS OFBCBF
THE JURY
ELENA ODRIOZOLA
ALBERTINE
HASSAN MOUSAVI
To mark its 60th edition, BCBF launched an international illustration contest open exclusively to those artists selected for the Illustrators Exhibition over the last decade. Using only the four colours of the BCBF logo, illustrators were asked to produce an illustration focused on a memory of their visits to Bologna. The jury comprised the ten great artists selected to create the covers of the last ten years’ Illustrators Annuals. This stellar jury selected these 20 illustrations that best describe the atmosphere, people, places and magic of Bologna and the Fair.
Chialab design studio, curator of the BCBF visual identity, decided to take a risk and break with the tradition that demanded the visual identity be created from a single illustrator with its own particular style and identity. The colours guided the team, showing them how they could seamlessly juxtapose, assemble, overlap and multiply the 20 illustrations. Gradually, they wove them all together, cutting out and assembling extracts and details. The result was new scenarios, new characters and new environments that together spoke of the many individual talents that made up the whole: a concert with 20 musicians playing a 4-colour score. What better image for this year’s slogan “Still rocking at 60!”
IGOR OLEYNIKOV
LUDWIG VOLBEDA
ROTRAUT SUSANNE
BERNER
LAURA CARLIN
ROGER MELLO
IT’S RAINING ELEPHANTS (NINA WEHRLE)
PETER SÍS
Peppo Bianchessi
Davide Bonazzi
Raquel Bonita
Wei-Chun Dai
Elena Maricone
Talita Nozomi
Fatima Ordinola
Caroline Pedler
Elena Repetur
Mariana Rio
Gina Rosas
André Rösler
Veronica Ruffato
Anna Sarvira
Ami Shin
Masha Titova
Katerina Voronina
Peng Wu
Chengliang Zhu
STEP1 CONTEST
Callforentriesamong theillustratorsselectedIllustratorsoverthelasttenExhibitions.
Theme: “Landscapesand PortraitsofBCBF”
Format:squareTechnique:any
Colours:the4colours oftheBCBFlogored,orange,magenta,andblack.
The Ars in Fabula Grant Award - established in 2012 by the Ars in Fabula School of Illustration together with BCBF – gives one of the Illustrators Exhibition’s young unpublished talents the opportunity to attend the Ars in Fabula Postgrade’s Course in Illustration for Publishing.
Each Course the winner student is assigned a book project by one of the School’s partner publishers for possible publication: the result is the career that the Grant Award winners have pursued as internationally acclaimed professionals.
THEWINNERS
Louise Heymans; JooHee Yoon; Bruno Zocca; Teresa Manferrari; Veronica Ruffato; Cecilia Ferri; Jean Mallard; Olga Shtonda; Elisa Cavaliere; Lera Elunina.
MEMBERS OF THE JURY 2023
MAURO EVANGELISTA
DIRECTOR ARS IN FABULA
WALTER FOCHESATO
MAGAZINE ANDERSEN
STEP2 WINNERSSelectionof 20illustrations, insteadofonesinglewinner.
STEP3 COLLAGES
Extractionandassemblyofdetails inordertocreatenewscenarios,newcharactersandnew environments whichtogetherspeakofthemanyindividual visionsthatmakeupthewhole. EnjoytheexhibitionatBCBFandon galleries.bolognachildrensbookfair.com
ChialabforBCBF
To mark the 10th anniversary of the award a special exhibition at the Fair presents a selection of illustrations created during the Course on projects by the publishers Orecchio Acerbo, ELSE edizioni, ZOOlibri, Camelozampa, Kite edizioni, Franco Cosimo Panini, Sinnos.
LUIGI RAFFAELLI
GRAPHIC DESIGNER, ILLUSTRATOR
The Bologna Children’s Book Fair opens to the world of research with this award that looks into the best dissertations in children’s literature. The prize, currently awarded for postgraduate works from Italian Universities, pays tribute to the literary critic Carla Poesio, her fundamental contribution to the world of children’s literature and the unique role she played in the birth and development of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. This year’s winner is Caterina Foglieri with a dissertation focusing on the theme of flight and fall: “Tra voli e cadute. Gli atterraggi di fortuna nella letteratura per l’infanzia”.
CARLA POESIO JURY
EMMA BESEGHI
UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA
PINO BOERO
UNIVERSITY OF GENOVA
LORENZO CANTATORE
UNIVERSITY ROMA TRE
While waiting for the release of Caterina’s book, last year’s winner is now available in bookstores: “Trovando sulle nuvole la chiave di casa. Interpretazioni in chiave metanarrativa e metalinguistica delle opere di Gianni Rodari” by Noemi Fiorito.
The annual translation competition In Altre Parole (In Other Words), is aimed at aspiring translators working in Italian from a range of languages changing every year, to bring young translators to publishers’ attention and to encourage language diversity.
The language for the 2023’s edition is JAPANESE
MEMBERS OF THE 2023 JURY
FEDERICA LIPPI FRANCESCO VITUCCIWhilewaitingfortheannounce ofthe2023winner,wepresentthe2022 winnerGiovannaD’Onofrio
IllustrationsbyMashaBazilevskaya,PeppoBianchessi,DavideBonazzi, RaquelBonita,Wei-ChunDai,ElenaMaricone,TalitaNozomi, FatimaOrdinola,CarolinePedler,ElenaRepetur,MarianaRio, GinaRosas,AndréRösler,VeronicaRuffato,AnnaSarvira,AmiShin, MashaTitova,KaterinaVoronina,PengWu,ChengliangZhu
