bologna children's bookfair 2014

After a somewhat eventful arrival (I thought I'd lost my passport!!) and a much needed gentle evening with my flat mates Kendra Marcus and Ilse Craane of BookStop Literary Agency, Margaret Bateson-Hill (my talented traveling companion) and I headed into the city on Sunday morning. I discovered an amazing bookshop I'd not come across before called Librerie.coop on Via degli Orefici, 19. It had a nice display on the ground floor, then a mix of a restaurant, deli and beautiful cook books on the next floor. On the top floor was a wine shop and the children's books - how fabulous is that!

Saw my 'indulgence buy' of the Fair: L'alfabeto dei sentementi by Janna Carioli and Sonia Possentini (will post later about it), then my 'fun buy' of the Fair - a story about a circus strong man who is into knitting: Ettore, L'uomo Straordinariamente Forte by Magali Le Muche.

Then I spotted my absolute favourite Claude, in Italian! Had to turn him face out so lots of Italians would get to know him too.

Then it was on to the Fair.
I've not had a stand for many years and I really miss the buzz the fair has the day before as stands are put up. It always got me psyched like being backstage before a performance. So I was happy to go along to the Troika Books stand to meet Martin West and Petula Chaplin.

They were next door to Scholastic, so it was a nice opportunity to say hello to Eleanor Bagenal (who edited my Sleep Sheep book) and was wearing the most fabulous coat. Had to introduce her to Margaret who was wearing an equally fabulous coat!

Once the mutual admiration society had finished its session, we wandered around. Were very impressed to see Kirstin & Julie-Ann of Barrington Stoke, not only putting up the stand but making all the furniture! I hope their authors and illustrators realise how hard they were working.

Note how they are following the instructions.

I thought Faber & Faber had the wittiest stand, but my top prize went to La Pasteque, Canada:

We finished off the evening with a 'Waifs & Strays' pizza night (named, after the event by Frances Plumpton ex-librarian and agent extraordinaire). The conversation was witty and intelligent and funny and the Prosecco creamy and biscuity - who could ask for more? Fiona Kenshole came armed with a fabulous device which was at once a magnifying glass and torch - perfect to decipher a menu in the dim lighting!

Monday morning and it was all down to business. Meetings, meetings, meetings.

Took a break to see Margaret's IBBY showcase...

...and ran into the fabulous Judy Goldman from Mexico who has been shockingly busy with seven books out this year! One is with the fabulous Charlesbridge who of course also publish Lulu).

Judy's friend had the best nails at the fair, so I just had to take a close up:

Talking of Charlesbridge - guess who is on the front of their Fall catalogue? Meg gave Ros and me a sneak peek. How exciting!

Lola Plants a Garden is out with Charlesbridge in September this year. The UK edition, Lulu Loves Flowers is out in the UK in Spring 2015 - watch this space for launch plans.

Then it was off to visit Mariana Warth, and Aron Balmas of Pallas Editora one of the few publishers in Brazil to include people of African heritage in their books (making them a happy home for Lulu).
Marianna has just published the second Lulu story and presented us with a copy.

I took a little time to look at the illustrators' exhibition, taking a while to look at an amazing love story between a sheep and a frog by a Japanese artist (whose name I need to track down).
Here they are swimming underwater among the jellyfish:

My least favourite image at the Fair was this:

Not content with pink glittery stories about pretty princesses for girls and snotty adventure stories for boys, it seems even God must succumb to gendered marketing - big depressed sigh.

It struck me at the fair that alongside the ever increasing numbers of pink/blue books for boys/girls, there is also a growing number of books about bullying. Now, could this be connected?

As I argued in a blog to launch Alanna Books' What Are You Playing At?, (quoting Lyn Mikel Brown) “When you offer few options and give kids a very narrow slice of life, there are things they don’t learn, experiences they don’t have. What the children do learn is strict gender norms – and children who don’t adhere to those norms frighten their peers. They’re made anxious by difference because we’ve given them sameness. To alleviate that fear, they tease the child who doesn’t conform.” So, as books and toys become more and more gender segregated, the social costs of boundary crossing and the peer pressure to stay within the lines are huge.


A frightening thought and one that compels us to keep fighting for books that are open and inclusive and all embracing rather than narrow and limiting.

OK, mini-rant over, on to nicer things - my favourite image of the fair one from the illustrators' wall.
Enjoy!