Shadows rise
from the books – Vladimir Mayakowsky
The Bologna Children’s Book Fair ended on a slight decline in exhibitor and visitor numbers, 1,540 and 32,652 respectively, as compared to last year’s 1,580 and 33,318 over the four days from 13 to 16 April. This can clearly be attributed to the situation in the Middle East and its impact on international air travel. Nevertheless, some 230 exhibitors from Asia-Pacific made the trip to Bologna, including 25 from India. In addition to the Chennai International Book Fair and various publishers whose main business consisted of publishing and book exports, several printers, including Thomson Press India and Nutech from the Delhi NCR, and CDC Printers of Kolkata, were present.
According to BCBF, publishers’ participation in its Comics Corner grew by 60% as compared to last year. The BolognaBookPlus area also expanded, with a more than 15% increase in exhibitor presence as compared to the 2025 edition. BBPlus had two new features this year, the Designer Studio and the Writers Lab, spaces dedicated to illustrators and writers for children’s and general publishing. Also for the first time, as part of the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids, a space dedicated to the Toy sector was introduced, based on a strategic partnership with Play, another BolognaFiere event dedicated to board games.
Among this year’s key themes, research on fables and fairy tales has been presented as a special category of the 2026 BolognaRagazzi Awards, in a collaboration with UN Publications. A joint effort with UN organization UN Women focused on gender representation in children’s and young adult books as part of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
There was also significant attention to sharing policy guidelines and best practices worldwide for supporting reading among children and young people with an international conference organized by BCBF and the Italian Publishers Association (AIE) in collaboration with the French Syndicat National de l’Edition (SNE), the Federation of European Publishers (FEP), the International Publishers Association (IPA), and the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY). Among the discussions, there was a focus on new reading habits that are redefining young people’s relationship with reading, in particular with regard to illustrated books and comics.
Comics rising at book fairs
For most of this year’s international book fairs, comics appear to be high on the agenda. At the Paris Book Fair, Festival du livre de Paris, held from 17 to 19 April, comics are this year’s main focal theme. License trade at last month’s London Book Fair has largely been determined by literature for young and ‘new adults,’ with a growing chunk dedicated to comics and graphic novels. Almost half of the Brussels Book Fair last month was occupied by a ‘Manga Village’ and other clusters of comic book publishers.
And Charlotte Boschen, Key Account manager at the Frankfurt Book Fair, announced that comics will play a bigger role than ever before at this year’s FBF, which will run from 7 to 11 October, because, in her words, “Comics have long become more than just a genre. They are being adapted into series, films and games – and are bringing together a growing global community.”
The next BCBF is to take place from 5 to 8 April 2027.
