BOLOGNA 2019

By Yvonne Gilbert

I look forward each year to being in Bologna, not only for the Book Fair which is fantastic enough, but to soak up the warm sunshine while drinking a Crodino in the Piazza, eat dinner at restaurant tables set outside in narrow streets and stroll around the enticing street markets shopping for fresh produce. Bologna is such a wonderful place and I miss it already—roll on next spring.

Bigger than ever with around 1,500 publishers present and even more exhibition halls, it is a book lover’s paradise. Every kind of children’s books from many different countries and cultures are lined up in all their splendid colours just asking to be picked up. I find the experience deeply stimulating and am so full of ideas I can’t wait to get back and start working on them.

Due in part to the hard work we put in on our presentations, and the fact that as a team of three we are so much more than the sum of our parts, we had a very successful trip. New relationships were formed and old alliances confirmed so we will have new works to show here in the future.

Of course, there were far too many wonderful books to take in at the Fair; a few hours a day was enough of a sensory overload so the rest of our time was spent enjoying the city and the weather. We were lucky enough to meet with the highly-acclaimed illustrator Etienne Delessert who was in town as part of a show of Big League illustrators. New friends were made—illustrator Esther Samuels-Davis and storyteller and artist Kim Fielding. Danny was able to catch an exhibition of Andy Warhol and friends with Tom and Christine and we all visited the children’s book shop (Libreria Per Ragazzi) in the Piazza Maggiori to buy more outstanding volumes. We returned home extremely tired but very grateful for the opportunity.