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From 14 to 16 November 2025 BCBF will be in Shanghai as co-organiser of the Asian fair: business lounges, exhibitors and international guests, a big Italian collective stand, exhibitions, a special focus on Norway and much more
Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF) is increasingly making its mark on new markets thanks to its expertise honed over sixty years in the world of publishing for children. Since 2018 BCBF has also been co-organiser of the China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair (CCBF), the Asia Pacific area’s main trade fair event for the children’s sector. BCBF has already made a significant impact, exporting its unmistakeable creative approach, its discerning selection of content and its capacity to bring together professionals, culture and new visions of the book market for children and young people.
In its capacity as co-organiser, Bologna Children’s Book Fair contributes significantly to the strategy and international positioning of CCBF, which this year is scheduled to take place from 14 to 16 November at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Centre. BCBF coordinates the international section of the fair, both in terms of exhibitors and programming, and creates special areas designed to highlight the excellence of children’s publishing worldwide.
Initiatives include numerous business areas devoted to the best of global publishing. The BOP Lounge showcases the winners of the Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publisher of the Year, the accolade BCBF awards each year in collaboration with the Italian Publishers Association (AIE) for the best publisher in each area of the world. Furthermore, the CrossMedia Lounge is a space for international publishers and specialist companies that have successfully transformed original projects into cross-media intellectual property: from the book to digital, from animation to gaming and the audio and video production. Protagonists at this space will also include the winners of the BolognaRagazzi CrossMedia Awards.The Strega Prize Lounge presents the winners of Italian literature’s leading award, for which BCBF is a partner for the categories relating to children’s literature and illustration. These areas are complemented by the Asia Pacific New Entry Lounge, dedicated to scouting outstanding publishers from the Asia-Pacific region.
In this international context, Italy will also play a leading role, with a large collective stand organized by the Italian Trade Agency (ICE) and numerous individual participants at CCBF.
Spaces specifically for professionals include The Illustrators Survival Corner, one of the most visited areas of BCBF, curated by Mimaster Illustrazione. The initiative has already been exported successfully to publishing fairs all around the world. The Corner is specifically for young illustrators or those taking their first steps in the industry and includes masterclasses, workshops and meetings focusing on the profession of the illustrator in all of its many aspects.
This presence on the world publishing scene is testament to the leading role BCBF plays in the sector. In fact, the China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair also offers an opportunity to consolidate BCBF’s collaboration with the International Publishers Association (IPA) and to continue the work ahead of the next Congress in Malaysia, where BCBF will play a leading role in the children’s publishing section.
Numerous guests from the international scene area also due to take part in Shanghai: Matthew Forsythe, Steven Guarnaccia, Alessandro Sanna, GUD, Leo Timmers, Taro Gomi Yoshitake and Øyvind Torseter are some of the participants in an exclusive preview that will also look ahead to Norway’s involvement as Guest of Honour 2026 at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. Among the stars of CCBF is also Sydney Smith, winner of the 2024 Hans Christian Andersen Award. A selection of his books, published in many countries around the world, will be presented by BCBF in collaboration with Everafter, the Chinese publishing house that won the 2026 BOP – Bologna Prize in the Asia category.
A focus on cartoons, thanks to BCBF’s experience in the sector in particular through its Comics Corner, has led to the new edition of Children’s Plus, an initiative designed to promote the most innovative publishing categories worldwide. In 2025 attention will therefore be on the best international comics with the exhibition COMICS: Exploring the World, One Bubble at a Time - Stories for reading, learning, imagining curated by Grazia Gotti (Accademia Drosselmeier), Mariaelena Schiavo (Bologna Children’s Book Fair) and Marina Lepore (Accademia Drosselmeier) for the international section and by Fei Jia (Senior Editor and Picture Book Researcher) for the Chinese section. In total, the exhibition will display around 300 international titles, celebrating comics as an art form and as a tool for learning. The event will also feature a special panel discussion to examine the theme in greater depth.
The result of close collaboration between BCBF and BolognaFiere China, the Shanghai Children’s Book Fair will feature over 500 exhibitors in total, including 200 international participants from 35 countries. The exhibition area will be accompanied by a rich programme of meetings and in-depth sessions on the present and the future of publishing, with the participation of world-renowned guest. All of this reflects BCBF’s commitment to the continuous growth of the China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair, a crucial reference point for those who create, publish and innovate in the world of publishing for children and young people, and for those who aim to enter the Asian publishing market.
The complete programme for the China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair can be found here: https://www.ccbookfair.com/en/index/programme/programme-overview
The appointment in Shanghai is just a part of the calendar of the BCBF Grand Tour 2025/2026. The Tour visits some of the world’s main trade fair events together with BolognaBookPlus (BBPlus), the event for generalist publishing organised together with the Italian Publishers Association (AIE), and the Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids (BLTF/Kids), focussed on licensing and brands for children and young people, developed thanks to the support and collaboration of ITA- the Italian Trade Agency and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International cooperation. The forthcoming edition of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair is scheduled to take place at the Bologna Exhibition Centre from 13 to 16 April 2026.
