I’ve just got back from my first visit to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF) and (like loads of other illustrators with a blog, Substack or IG) I’ve decided to tell you all about it. If you’ve never been or didn’t go this year then read on to find out what happened. If you were there then read on to see if you can spot yourself or your work in any of the photos (let me know if you do!)

Highlights

My two stand-out highlights of the week were:

• Handling Sydney Smith’s original paintings from books I have on my shelves (more on this later!)

• Accidental pizza, drinks and art with Jarvis and the lovely people in the Walker Books stand.

What is BCBF?

The Bologna Children’s Book Fair is an annual event in Bologna, Italy that has been happening since the 1960s. For four days each year, all the people involved in the creation and publication of children’s books gather together from all over the world and buy and sell each other rights for all sorts of related things; translations, TV rights, products, etc. There is also a big contingent of illustrators (hi, that’s me) who go to attend talks and workshops, and maybe get their work in front of agents and publishers. They also take printed work to display on “The Wall”.

the wall?

The illustrator’s wall at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. A very long wall near the entrance to the fair where illustrators display their work, hoping to be noticed, discovered, propelled to stardom. I guess that’s the idea anyway, lots of illustrators spoke passionately about The Wall and made elaborate preparations to secure prime spots for their work.

I didn’t see much appeal in queuing hours before the fair opened to try and fight for a premium spot. But I felt like I should put something up there, as a sort of illustrator right of passage. You can’t go to BCBF without contributing to The Wall.

Luckily, the design I chose for my business cards was an illustration of a boy squashed inside a frame / box / aquarium. I thought I could put a few of these in some tiny gaps and it would look like he was being squashed by all the surrounding artwork.

I doubt anyone saw or noticed these amongst the thousands of posters and cards, but I did it anyway, and I have this photo as proof my work was there.

My favourite thing on The Wall was the little pink and teal unicorn in the image below. It was small, eye-catching, intriguing (no info at all on the front) and there were loads of them all over. After the first day I started trying to spot more of them each time I walked past a section of The Wall, and as I was leaving on Wednesday I found one on the floor and took it with me.

Apparently, The Wall was made of different stuff this year and nothing was sticking to it very well! Halfway through the first day things started to slide off and collect on the floor. I saw some people repeatedly, and angrily, sticking their stuff back up (perhaps they thought someone had taken it down…?) and others putting their cards on top of other work. Presumably they stuck better to the paper and card already up than the wall material, but this just put strain on the one poster actually attached to the wall, so, inevitably, that all slid off too. There was much upset and some drama.

pop-up workshop

A week before the fair, a bunch of workshops and portfolio reviews became available to book via Eventbrite. With around 20 spaces in four workshops per day compared to over 33,000 visitors there was of course a mad rush and everything was booked up in under a minute! I was lucky enough to book two workshops and my first was a pop up workshop with Char-Lee Mito.

First he showed us some of his pop up work and then we all set about making some tiny little pop up creations. The mechanisms were the simplest you can do but, as expected in a room full of illustrators, a spectrum of beautiful, clever, and funny work emerged.

visual diary workshop

On the second day I attended a workshop called Sketching the Fair: a Collaborative Visual Diary. Essentially this was urban sketching with a bit of Kid Lit flair. We split into three small groups and went off to sketch for an hour. The workshop ran each day and then the sketches were displayed on the wall in a nice impromptu exhibition.

Our group was instructed to sketch our surroundings, but insert our favourite children’s book characters into the scene (The Gruffalo browsing books, Maisy Mouse getting a portfolio review, etc.) My four-year-old had dressed as the hat-stealing bunny from I Want My Hat Back on world book day a few weeks earlier, so I decided to put that bunny in my scene.

After 20 minutes we gathered to compare sketches and go off to another location. No one else had put any characters in their scenes! They had all just drawn the fair. So for the next sketch I did the same and ended up with a fast food interaction at the Rocket Truck. I really liked this sketch. The window was super high so people had to streeetch up to get their food and, from where I was sitting, the faces of the people in the truck were obscured. It gave the whole scene a bit of a surreal, and somehow very British, vibe.

sydney smith

Masterclasses were talks that you couldn’t book in advance but just had to turn up for and hope there was enough room. Of course the Sydney Smith masterclass was absolutely packed. I arrived a few minutes late and so obviously there were no seats or even any standing room left. I joined the crowd by the stage entrance and although I couldn’t see Mr Smith I could hear him and see the screen. He talked through his career in children’s book illustration, and the artistic choices he’s made along the way.

Play creates excitement that fuels a project. Try to fight safe choices. What’s the safe thing to do? Do the opposite. Then do the opposite of that! – Sydney Smith

He talked about his process and how it has changed over the years. And he passed around his original paintings for the books he’s illustrated. Well, the actual paintings that became the book illustrations were framed in an exhibition elsewhere in the building. The paintings he passed around were the alternative versions. For example, the illustration below was for the book I Talk Like a River. He painted 20 different versions before sending the best to the publisher, though he said he wasn’t 100% happy with it. So when the publisher said they’d lost the file for that illo and asked if he could resend it, he spent the weekend painting another 20 versions until he got one he was completely happy with.

One thing that struck me, and that you can probably see from the above photos, is how much the final painting was blown up in size to create the book illustration.

Another example of original painting to picture book illustration from the same book:

I love seeing original artwork and comparing it to how it looks in the final book. How the colours are altered, the scale is changed, mistakes are corrected. I especially love to see the pencil marks, rough edges, and smudges in original artwork.

I left this Masterclass talk fired up to experiment and create more traditional work. When I got home I tried playing with collage to create a dummy for a new idea. It turned out a bit rubbish! But I’m nowhere near 40 attempts yet, so I’ve got plenty of time to play.

I’m not confident, but I can pretend to be. Do you know what the difference is? Nothing – Sydney Smith

sketching

As well as creating artwork during workshops, I did find a little time for a few sketches around Bologna (okay, one is in my apartment, and one is in the airport, but the other is in the main square!)

inspirational artwork

One of the things I loved about the various illustration exhibitions was that they listed the materials used. Fasinating! And often really unexpected. I also like to see the size of original art as it’s often much bigger or smaller than I expect. Here are some of the many many photos I took.

What I would have done differently

• Stayed longer to have some time for sketching and seeing the sights. Bologna is a short train ride away from both Florence and Venice, and it would have been great to do a few day trips.
• Taken a full printed portfolio. I didn’t bother as I was travelling light and I wasn’t really planning on having reviews, but I ended up showing people my work anyway and it would have been better to have it in a large printed format.
• Pay extra for direct flights. The delays from missed transfers were not fun!
• Go to the fair on the last day. The fair ends early on the last day and many stands have already gone, so we decided to fly home the evening before. But it’s likely that the stands left on Thursday would be much freer to chat, and I’m told that many books are sold off super cheap during the final afternoon.
• Take more than just hand luggage. I decided to travel light, but regretted it when the weather became changeable and I saw all the beautiful books I wish I could have brought home!
• Stayed nearer to the bookfair venue. BCBF is about a 4o minute walk, or 20 minute bus ride, from the centre of Bologna, where I stayed. Staying within quick walking distance of the venue would have been easier and probably cheaper. Our apartment had a kitchen and washing machine and all sorts and we spent basically zero time there. Didn’t eat there once, not even breakfast.
• Eaten more ice-cream. Always.

Final Thoughts

There was so much more than I was able to fit in here. All the beautiful books for sale. All the lovely people I met. I had a nice portfolio review with the German equivalent of the AOI. Multiple times I would fall in love with an illustration or a book on a stand and then later find out I was chatting to the person who created it. The fair felt gigantic and small all at once. Maybe see you there next year?