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The Bologna Children's Book Fair started on Monday, 21st March. This is the 59th edition of this largest European children's book fair. This year, 28 publishers from Poland are among the exhibitors, presenting themselves at the Polish stand organised by the Book Institute.
This year's event will welcome 1,070 exhibitors from more than 50 countries. Over the four days of the fair, there will be 250 events and 18 exhibitions, all accompanied by Festival BOOM!, with events taking place all over Bologna. The Emirate of Sharjah is the guest of honour at this year's fair.
The highlight of the first day of the Bologna Fair was the presentation of the Bologna Ragazzi Award, the most prestigious international award for children's and young people's books, comparable to the Oscars. Every year, the award is presented in three main categories (Fiction, Non Fiction, and Opera Prima - for unpublished authors and illustrators) and one or two special categories. This year the special category is dedicated to Poetry.
For the first time, the Bologna Children's Book Fair also includes the live edition of the Bologna Book Plus trade fair, which was conceived as a complement to the main event. Bologna Book Plus was inaugurated virtually in 2021.
Also, for the first time at the Bologna Book Fair, this year's international exhibition is showcasing the most beautiful adult book covers and the Jackets off! award is being presented. Three projects from Poland are featured in Bologna: Kierunek zwiedzania by Marcin Wicha (designed by Przemek Dębowski), Jadłonomia po polsku by Marta Dymek (typographical design by Olek Modzelewski, cover design by Ola Niepsuj), and Raster Lichtensteina by Agnieszka Wolny-Hamkało (designed by Joanna Jopkiewicz)
It was Joanna Jopkiewicz's design for the publishing house Warstwy that has just been awarded the international prize Jackets off! for the most beautiful book cover for adults.
With foreign publishers interested in Polish books for children in mind, the Book Institute has also prepared a catalogue "Polish Books for Children & Young Adults 2022" for this year's fair (more details can be found here).
Take a look at the photos from the first day of the event:
Gallery
