Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2027: professional publishing and rights exchange

5–8 April 2027 · BolognaFiere, Bologna, Italy

Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF) is an international trade fair for children’s publishing, illustration and related content. The wider event brings together three connected initiatives: BCBF for children’s publishing, BolognaBookPlus for general trade publishing, and Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids for licensing brands and properties for children, teens and young adults. Together they create a setting for discovering content, discussing rights and exploring how stories may move across formats.

For publishers, agents, illustrators, licensors, producers, developers and other creative professionals, the practical value lies in turning a broad market visit into focused comparisons and conversations. The 2027 edition is the 64th edition.

Why Bologna Children’s Book Fair matters

Discover creative work and publishing opportunities

Use the fair to review children’s and young-adult books, illustration and other storytelling content in a professional setting. Publishers and editors can look for work that fits their lists; agents and rights professionals can assess material and potential rights conversations.

Connect publishing with licensing and other formats

The event network places children’s publishing alongside licensing for young audiences and general trade publishing. This is relevant to people exploring how a story, character or creative property could be considered across books and other media. Any particular adaptation or deal remains a matter for the rights holders and participants.

Follow professional discussion

The programme gives participants a way to consider issues beyond product discovery. In 2026, AIE and partner organisations held sessions on reading promotion, accessibility in fixed-layout e-books, comics publishing and early-years reading practices. These are examples from the previous edition, not a promise of the 2027 programme.

The organiser’s 2026 facts and figures report 1,540 exhibitors, 32,652 trade visitors and 600 events. That scale makes preparation valuable: identify the people and subjects most relevant to your work before arriving.

Who should visit Bologna Children’s Book Fair?

Children’s and young-adult publishers and acquisition editors

Useful if you are building a list, reviewing content or considering rights for publication.

• Compare books and illustration approaches against the age groups and subjects your list serves.
• Identify publishers, agents or rights holders whose catalogues merit a closer conversation.
• Consider translation, format and territory questions before discussing a title.
• Use the Global Rights Exchange and matchmaking platform to help focus discovery and meeting preparation.

The official event description names publishers and rights exchange as central to the fair.

Literary agents, rights professionals and licensors

Useful if you represent, acquire or license stories and creative properties.

• Prepare a concise description of the rights or territories you represent.
• Compare potential publishing, licensing and cross-media fit without assuming that every property suits every format.
• Use professional conversations to establish ownership, availability and the appropriate next step.
• Separate immediate rights interests from broader market intelligence gathered during the fair.

BCBF and Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids connect children’s publishing with licensing for young audiences.

Illustrators, authors, translators and creative professionals

Useful if you want to present work, understand professional expectations or meet people working across the publishing chain.

• Prepare a selective portfolio or sample that makes your visual or editorial contribution clear.
• Choose examples that fit the publishers, agents or creative partners you hope to meet.
• Be ready to discuss process, audience, rights and availability in practical terms.
• Look for programme opportunities relevant to illustration, translation, accessibility or professional development when the 2027 schedule is available.

The fair names illustrators, authors and translators among its professional community.

Producers, developers and professionals working across media

Useful if your work involves adapting or extending children’s and young-adult stories into other content formats.

• Identify properties or publishers that match your audience and production needs.
• Discuss rights ownership and adaptation scope early rather than treating a promising conversation as permission.
• Compare the creative premise, intended audience and format requirements of potential projects.
• Use the licensing-focused part of the event network for relevant conversations.

General trade publishing professionals

BolognaBookPlus is dedicated to general trade publishing. Publishers and related professionals whose work extends beyond children’s books can use the wider event to explore the relevant general-publishing programme and exhibitors alongside the children’s publishing focus.

What can you find at Bologna Children’s Book Fair?

Children’s and young-adult publishing

BCBF centres on publishing for young readers. Explore books, editorial content and visual storytelling, and consider how subject, age range, format and rights fit your professional objectives.

Illustration and creative work

The event highlights illustrators and original visual work. For editors and art directors, compare approaches and prepare questions about style, intended readership, project fit and rights. For artists, make the portfolio easy to review and explain the work you are seeking.

Rights, licensing and cross-media content

The Global Rights Exchange and the licensing-focused Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids support discovery around rights and properties. The event’s official description also identifies producers and developers among the professionals who meet there. Treat a listing or conversation as a lead for due diligence, not as confirmation that rights are available.

General trade publishing

BolognaBookPlus adds a general trade publishing component. Check its current exhibitor and programme information when planning, and keep it distinct from the children’s and young-adult publishing areas when setting your priorities.

What makes Bologna Children’s Book Fair different?

Its connected focus brings children’s publishing, general trade publishing and young-audience licensing into one professional event network.

This structure is useful for participants whose work crosses editorial categories or formats. A children’s publisher may be able to consider licensing conversations in the same event context; a rights professional can explore publishing and related media interests; and a general trade publishing participant can assess the BolognaBookPlus component. The official site also presents a Global Rights Exchange and a matchmaking platform, giving participants tools for structured discovery and contact planning.

The event’s 2026 edition reported 600 events. Its previous-edition programme included discussion of reading promotion, digital accessibility and comics publishing, illustrating the range of professional topics that may sit alongside the exhibition. The next programme should be checked when published rather than assumed from earlier editions.

What should you try to achieve?

If you publish or acquire books

Leave with a shortlist of titles, publishers or rights holders that merit a specific follow-up. For each, note intended readership, format, language or territory, rights availability to verify, and the next information you need.

If you represent rights or licensing properties

Identify the most relevant potential publishing or licensing conversations. Prepare a clear description of the rights represented, territories, formats and availability, then record what each counterpart needs to assess fit.

If you create or illustrate work

Gather focused feedback and identify appropriate editorial or representation contacts. Show a small, coherent body of work and record each contact’s interest, requested material and agreed next step.

If you develop content for other media

Identify properties or partners that warrant a rights and feasibility discussion. Record the format, audience, rights scope and production questions that must be resolved before a project can advance.

How to prepare before Bologna Children’s Book Fair

1. Set a work-specific objective

Decide whether your priority is to acquire titles, sell or represent rights, present creative work, explore licensing, or follow professional discussion. A clear objective helps you distinguish relevant conversations from general browsing.

2. Build a target list

Use the official exhibitor directory when the 2027 edition’s directory is available. The site currently provides a 2026 exhibitor directory, which can help you understand the tool but should not be treated as the 2027 participant list. Add target publishers, agents, licensors or service partners and label them A — essential, B — useful, or C — explore if time allows.

3. Prepare rights and portfolio information

Rights buyers and representatives should organise title, author or creator, language, territory, format, rights status and contact details. Artists and authors should prepare a concise portfolio or sample and a short explanation of the work’s intended audience and availability. Do not share confidential material unless you are comfortable with the terms of the conversation.

4. Use the event’s discovery tools

The official site provides the Global Rights Exchange and a matchmaking platform. Review the available information, identify relevant participants and request or plan conversations where the platform allows. Confirm the 2027 features and access arrangements before relying on a specific function.

5. Prepare questions for meetings

• Which age groups, subjects and formats are central to your current list or project?
• Which languages, territories and rights are available or being sought?
• Who controls the relevant publishing, translation, adaptation or licensing rights?
• What editorial, illustration or production materials are needed for evaluation?
• What timing, approvals or further information would be required for a decision?
• What is the agreed next step, and who owns it?

How to make the most of the exhibition

Keep a simple record for each relevant conversation: Organisation → title or property → why it fits → rights or format discussed → contact → next action. For example, an editor considering a picture-book catalogue could note the age range, format, language rights to confirm and sample materials requested.

Use the directory and matchmaking tools to navigate from a broad search to a small number of priority contacts. Compare content on the same criteria rather than collecting catalogues without a decision in mind. When a discussion concerns a property, distinguish confirmed availability from a question still to be checked with the rights holder.

Keep the conversation specific

For a publisher, describe the list and readership you serve. For an agent, clarify the rights represented. For an illustrator, explain the work and project types you are seeking. For a media producer, establish the property, format and rights questions that require further discussion.

Plan your time realistically

The 2027 fair runs across four days, and the organiser reported 600 events for the 2026 edition. Build a plan around your priority meetings and the sessions or areas that matter to your role rather than trying to cover everything.

Before the day

Choose a limited number of must-see exhibitors, scheduled meetings and programme items. Leave space for discovery and for conversations that run longer than expected.

During the day

Group nearby priorities where the official map allows, keep notes immediately after meetings and protect time for follow-up planning. If you are reviewing portfolios, set a realistic number of focused reviews rather than trying to assess every work you encounter.

At the end of the day

Sort contacts into immediate, potential and market-intelligence follow-up. Record promised material, rights questions and who is responsible for the next step while details are fresh.

Beyond the exhibition floor

Professional events and discussions form part of the wider programme. At the 2026 edition, the Italian Publishers Association (AIE) and partners presented an international discussion on reading promotion; a session on accessibility in fixed-layout e-books; a comics-industry session on editorial work, translation and graphic design; and a discussion of reading practices for children aged 0–3. The fair also hosted an exhibition of books connected with the reading-promotion project #ioleggoperchéLAB-NIDI.

These are previous-edition examples, not confirmed 2027 sessions. When the next programme is available, compare its subjects with your objectives and check the schedule before planning meetings around a session.

Networking at Bologna Children’s Book Fair

Prepare a brief introduction that explains what you publish, represent, create or develop, and what kind of conversation you are seeking. Bring the details that support your purpose: a rights list, a portfolio, a catalogue, a project outline or a set of editorial requirements.

Ask focused questions and make the next step explicit. A useful follow-up note identifies the material to send, the rights or format question to resolve, the responsible contact and an agreed timeframe if one was discussed. Exchange contact details only with permission and do not treat an initial conversation as a confirmed deal or rights grant.

One day or several days?

The fair is scheduled across four days. The right amount of time depends on how many parts of the event network matter to you and whether your work requires meetings, programme sessions or portfolio reviews.

• A focused visit: may suit a participant with a short, pre-arranged target list and one primary objective.
• More than one day: may help if you need to cover both children’s publishing and licensing or general trade publishing, or if you have multiple meetings and programme interests.
• Across the full event: may be useful for participants managing a broad rights or exhibitor agenda, but prioritise rather than treating every area and session as essential.

Use the published 2027 schedule and official event information to decide; the 2026 event count does not establish the 2027 programme or venue layout.

Bring a project to Bologna Children’s Book Fair

If you are attending with a specific title or content project, prepare a compact brief: intended readership, format, subject, languages and territories of interest, rights currently available or sought, creative materials ready to share, and the decision you need to make. For adaptation or licensing discussions, identify the property and the rights holder before making assumptions about availability.

For a publishing acquisition, bring questions about editorial fit, translation, format, production materials and the next evaluation step. For an illustration or author portfolio, select examples that show range without obscuring the work you most want to discuss. Keep sensitive or unpublished material secure and share it selectively.

After Bologna Children’s Book Fair: where the value starts

Review your notes promptly and sort contacts into three groups:

• A — Immediate: send the requested sample, catalogue, rights information or portfolio material and confirm the next action.
• B — Potential: follow up with the additional information needed to assess editorial, rights or format fit.
• C — Market intelligence: retain useful observations about content, audience, illustration, licensing or professional themes for future planning.

When evaluating a title or property, verify rights ownership, language and territory scope, format availability and any conditions directly with the relevant rights holder. For an illustrator or author, record whether a contact requested further work or material and what they expect to review. Close the loop on each conversation rather than relying on memory.

Who should consider exhibiting?

The event is relevant to organisations working in children’s and young-adult publishing, illustration, rights, licensing and related content, as well as participants in BolognaBookPlus’s general trade publishing focus. The 2026 edition reported 1,540 exhibitors across its official facts and figures.

Before exhibiting, define the result you can reasonably pursue: present a catalogue, explain a rights portfolio, introduce a licensing property, meet relevant professional contacts or make creative work discoverable. Prepare materials that make your offer and rights position clear. The number of exhibitors does not guarantee a particular audience, meeting or commercial result.

Bologna Children’s Book Fair visitor checklist

Before

• ☐ Set one or two measurable publishing, rights or creative objectives.
• ☐ Check the current exhibitor directory and programme when the 2027 information is published.
• ☐ Prioritise organisations and meetings as essential, useful or optional.
• ☐ Prepare rights details, portfolio samples or project information for your purpose.
• ☐ Confirm current registration, access and travel arrangements through official information.

During

• ☐ Record the title or property, contact, rights questions and next action after each useful conversation.
• ☐ Compare content against your list, audience or project requirements.
• ☐ Attend relevant sessions and distinguish previous-edition examples from the current programme.
• ☐ Verify rights availability rather than treating a listing or conversation as confirmation.

After

• ☐ Send requested catalogues, samples or portfolio material.
• ☐ Follow up on rights, language, territory and format questions with the responsible contact.
• ☐ Review which conversations support an actual editorial or project decision.

Is Bologna Children’s Book Fair worth visiting?

The fair is especially relevant to professionals who publish, acquire, represent, illustrate, license or develop content for children and young adults, and to people whose work connects with general trade publishing. Its linked publishing, rights and licensing components can make cross-format discovery useful, while the official directory, Global Rights Exchange and matchmaking platform support targeted preparation.

The value depends on fit and preparation. Visitors with clear rights, catalogue, portfolio or project questions can use the event to make informed comparisons and start relevant conversations. A broad walk through the exhibition without priorities is less likely to produce useful decisions.

Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2027 at a glance

Use the organiser’s 2027 information for current participants, registration and programme details; 2026 figures and sessions describe the previous edition.

Make your Bologna visit purposeful

Decide what you want to discover, compare or move forward: a publishing acquisition, a rights conversation, a creative opportunity or a better understanding of the children’s content market. Prepare carefully, keep clear notes and follow up on the questions that matter.

Discover. Compare. Discuss. Decide. Follow up.

Children’s publishing opportunities in Italy

Market size and demand

The Italian Publishers Association (AIE) reported that children’s and young-adult books, including comics and graphic novels, sold 23.6 million copies in 2025, with a value of €277 million. AIE said value rose 2% and unit sales rose 0.3% year on year. The association also reported value growth of 8.3% in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025. These are market indicators for the defined children’s and young-adult book segment, not a measure of every publishing category.

Market drivers and commercial opportunities

Rights sales are identified by AIE as an important growth driver for Italian publishing. For professionals attending Bologna Children’s Book Fair, this supports investigating specific rights and translation conversations rather than assuming demand for any individual title.

• Children’s and young-adult titles: publishers and rights representatives could assess translation or territory interest against the Italian segment’s reported sales, while checking language fit, rights availability and the competitiveness of each title.
• Illustrated books and comics: buyers may compare content and visual approaches for their lists; an opportunity depends on editorial fit, rights scope and the intended readership.
• Licensing and related media: rights holders and developers may explore whether a property merits a licensing or adaptation discussion. Availability and commercial potential require separate verification.

Market-entry conditions

No industry-specific Italian market-entry or rights-compliance rule was verified for this guide. Participants should establish rights ownership, territory, language and format scope with the relevant rights holder and obtain specialist advice where needed.

What this may mean for exhibitors

Publishers, agents and rights holders may use the fair to test interest in specific titles and identify the information a potential partner needs. AIE’s figures describe the market segment; they do not predict demand for an exhibitor’s catalogue or guarantee a sale.

What this may mean for visitors

Buyers and editors could use the reported segment data as context while comparing books, rights and publishing approaches. They should evaluate each title against their own readership, catalogue and rights requirements rather than treating national market growth as a proxy for individual success.

Discover Bologna

Bologna’s historic centre offers cultural sites to combine with professional days at the fair. Bologna Welcome highlights the city’s historic buildings, religious architecture and public squares. BolognaFiere is the event venue; the attractions below are in Bologna itself.

Piazza Maggiore and the Basilica of San Petronio

Piazza Maggiore is one of Bologna’s central historic squares, framed by historic civic buildings and the Basilica of San Petronio. The square offers a compact introduction to the city’s architectural core.

Palazzo dell’Archiginnasio

The former seat of the University of Bologna houses the historic Anatomical Theatre. Its university history and richly decorated interiors make it a distinctive stop for visitors interested in Bologna’s academic heritage.

Sanctuary of San Luca

The sanctuary is associated with the long UNESCO-recognised portico route highlighted by Bologna Welcome. It offers a different perspective on the city’s religious architecture and surrounding landscape.

Choose one or two sites that fit around your fair commitments rather than overloading a business visit. Check current opening and access information with the attraction before setting out.