Kids’ fair to show illustration awards

A New York illustration prize is about to show up in Bologna, and that has not happened before. The 63rd Bologna Children’s Book Fair, running April 13 to April 16, 2026, says it will exhibit a selection of Society of Illustrators “Books” competition Gold and Silver Medal winners from 2022 through 2026 at its new Designer Studio. (publishingperspectives.com) Bologna is not a fan convention. Publishers Weekly says the fair brings about 1,500 exhibitors from 90 countries to the Bologna Exhibition Centre for four days of rights deals, programming, and awards, which means the artists on those walls are being seen by the people who buy, translate, and package children’s books. (publishersweekly.com) The Society of Illustrators prize comes from a New York institution founded in 1901, and its children’s-book awards are juried by artists, art directors, editors, and publishers. The Society says the competition gives Gold and Silver medals to the top work in the field, so Bologna is importing a curated slice of what American picture-book gatekeepers have been rewarding. (societyillustrators.org, competitions.societyillustrators.org) That matters because Bologna already has its own illustration machine. The fair’s Illustrators Exhibition is now in its 60th edition, and for 2026 it selected 75 illustration sets from 20,790 submissions by 4,158 illustrators across 94 countries and regions. (bolognachildrensbookfair.com, publishingperspectives.com) So this is not Bologna replacing its own taste with an American one. It is Bologna putting two judging systems in the same building: its long-running international exhibition, built from open submissions, and a medal-winning selection from the Society of Illustrators, built from juried awards. (bolognachildrensbookfair.com, societyillustrators.org) The fair is also making room for that crossover on purpose. BolognaBookPlus, the general-trade arm that runs alongside the children’s fair, says the Society of Illustrators display will debut in Europe at the new Designer Studio, which places picture-book art inside a broader marketplace for design, rights, and licensing. (bolognachildrensbookfair.com) This year’s fair is already stacked with illustration signals. Bologna’s preview highlights the 2026 Illustrators Exhibition, a tribute to Carlo Collodi for the 200th anniversary of his birth, and Norway as guest of honor, so the Society display lands inside a week built around visual storytelling and national showcases. (publishingperspectives.com, bolognawelcome.com) One small detail in the preview shows how closely Bologna watches image-making. The fair says Korean illustrator Bumi Cha, one of the youngest artists from the 2025 exhibition, created this year’s visual identity, which means the event is using emerging illustration talent not just as decoration but as its public face. (publishingperspectives.com) Put together, the move looks less like a one-off exhibit and more like a market test. If editors, scouts, and foreign-rights teams in Bologna respond to the Society of Illustrators medal winners, the styles rewarded in New York could travel faster into translated editions, co-editions, and licensed children’s publishing across Europe and beyond. (publishersweekly.com, bolognachildrensbookfair.com)