Bologna Children’s Book Fair: A Mecca for Illustrators

The Society of Illustrators , NYC, hosted “The Bologna Children’s Book Fair as the Epicenter of International Illustration.” Illustrator Steven Guarnaccia paced the floor and delivered a rousing pep talk about the BCBF (Bologna Children’s Book Fair.) The room was packed to capacity with famous illustrators including Leslie Cober , president of the Society. Much of the crowd seemed to be newly minted MFA students, many from my alma mater, SVA.

Steven, the best dressed illustrator in NYC, is also bella Bologna’s biggest booster. In a country famed for its food, he insisted Bologna is the foodie capital.

Steven waxed poetic about the people, the architecture, the magnificent bookstores, and the camaraderie of book lovers.

I ran into Steven several times at BCBF 2025 where I had the privilege of manning the TOON Books table at the fair’s “Comics Corner.”

Elena Pasoli, director of the BCBF, explained how Bologna has supported the fair for 60 plus years. The University of Bologna is the oldest university in the western world. The Fine Arts and Education faculty at the university and at other Italian schools are key partners. Bologna (population 400,000) may not be not as big as Milan or Rome, but it punches above its weight. It has numerous museums and galleries, and pop-up art events to coincide with the fair.

Steven spoke about mind-blowing art that would never be published in American children’s books. A case in point was the art from the Baltic nation of Estonia, the Guest of Honor for 2025.

Estonia’s booth at the fair displayed scores of new books. By the end of the fair, many of the Estonian books sported bookmarks bragging of international rights negotiated at the fair. Elena explained this is the essential reason the fair exists. It is a “rights fair.” Agencies and publishers flock to Bologna to make deals. Oddly enough, though it is a children’s book fair, children are not in attendance in the exhibition halls. There are, however, plenty of concurrent events where children are welcome.

One of Bologna’s palaces, the PALAZZO D`ACCURSIO had a wild kid-friendly exhibition of plywood cut-outs based on Estonian children’s book illustration.

Bologna has unique cultural institutes like Hamelin. A team from Hamelin was also in NYC to explain how they support of the fair. They are instrumental in highlighting international illustrators and especially comics creators. They arranged nearly nonstop panel discussions on all aspects of comics. In fact, Hamelin invited me to speak on a panel on “Comics in the Classroom.” One of many panels I enjoyed was about comics in South America, something I want to know more about.

Back to NYC. The audience had plenty of questions for Steven and Elena….

“What if we work in comics and zines?” Steven responded that he ‘s taken students from both his Parsons illustration classes and from his comics/zine classes to the fair. All manner of students found the trip inspiring. “When I started as an illustrator in NY, there were specific sorts of illustrators,” said Steven, ” There were book cover illustrators, editorial illustrators, comic book artist. Some might cross over a bit, but in the rest of the world illustrators don’t stick to these sorts of silos.”

Steven joked that the audience should look under their chairs for a ticket to Bologna 2026. I must admit I reached under my seat.

An illustrator asked, “Are you suggesting we just go to Bologna? Doesn’t your publisher have to send you?” Answer from Steve and Elena was, “Just Go! “

“What does it cost ?” The actual fair admission for illustrators is 22 Euros, roughly $25. Great, but what about travel and lodging? Literary agent Janna Morishima piped up to share she did the fair for under $1300 in 2024. (She happily admits to being a very frugal traveller.) Above is her budget from her 2024 Bologna trip posted at Kids Comics Unite. Janna’s whole illustrated Bologna 2024 journey can be found here.

P.S. I was surprised to find one of my former Kutztown illustration students went to the fair. I asked Catiebelle Bulmer to share her impressions. She wrote, ” This was my first time attending the Bologna Book Fair, and it was completely soul-filling. I left feeling wildly inspired—not only by the incredible talent on display, but by the reminder that there’s room for all kinds of illustrators in the children’s book world. The wide range of styles, voices, and storytelling approaches made it clear that there’s no one “right way” to be an illustrator. I came home with a renewed sense of purpose and am now working on a children’s book of my own—one rooted in themes of identity, inclusivity, and environmental stewardship. It’s colorful, heartfelt, and meant to help kids feel like they belong in their bodies because their bodies are part of the natural world, and that world is worth protecting. The most memorable part of the city was absolutely the food (I mean, Bologna!), but at the fair itself, nothing topped the chaos and community energy around the Illustrators Wall—it was like a living, breathing collage of creativity.”

Catie sounds every bit as enthusiastic about Bologna as Steven and Elena. If you are an illustrator, or hope to be an illustrator, a pilgrimage to Bologna is the trip of a lifetime.

-Kevin McCloskey