BOLOGNA, ITALY – The Philippines returned to the world’s foremost event for children’s books, the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF), after its successful debut participation last year.
Building on the success of its maiden appearance in 2024, the Philippines came to the BCBF this year with an even more robust presence. The delegation was represented by an outstanding and talented group of children’s book professionals, including illustrator Fran Alvarez (Dancing Hands: A Story of Friendship in Filipino Sign Language), authors Faye Villanueva-Chelabian (co-founder of Kawangis Publishing), Liwliwa Malabed (Sampung Eroplano), Ergoe Tinio (Editor-in-Chief of Center for Art, New Ventures & Sustainable Development), and MJ Tumamac (co-founder of Aklat Alamid), alongside Eli Camacho (Product Development Manager at Adarna House), Sophia Garduce (Southern Voices Printing Press), and Isa Songco (co-founder of Kwentoon).
Held from March 31 to April 3, 2025 at the BolognaFiere Exhibition Centre in Italy, the country’s participation was led by the National Book Development Board (NBDB), with support from the Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) and the International Board on Books for Young People Philippines (IBBY PH).
Last year marked several milestones for the Philippine book publishing industry. Before its successful presentation at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October, the Philippines made waves in the book world with its children’s book sector being selected as the Country of Focus at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content in Singapore. This set the stage for the Philippines’ debut at the BCBF, where the country showcased over 100 children’s books in a dedicated stand.
“This is another win for our children’s book sector, which is an enduring and vital part of our book industry. If our participation at the BCBF last year was an introduction to our children’s books, this year, we expanded our participation with a larger book curation focused on themes that represent the true nature of Philippine children’s stories: progressive, endlessly curious, and consider children as smart, imaginative readers with a great sense of agency,” said NBDB Executive Director Charisse Aquino-Tugade.
This year’s curation featured 120 titles that explore a variety of themes, including Philippine culture, diversity, environmental awareness, and sense of self and community. This selection of early readers, middle grade, and young adult books features both old and new voices in the Philippine children’s book sector, highlighting the authors and illustrators behind one of the country’s most widely read and translated genres.
The Philippines also hosted a range of activities, including an art workshop for children that took place at the Philippine Embassy in Rome on March 29, 2025, from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. The event featured two sessions: Mom’s Best Playdough Activities that focused on Philippine national symbols, and an art workshop by Liza Flores of Ang INK (Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan), where young participants were encouraged to explore their creativity while learning about Filipino culture. On April 1, 2025, from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM, the Philippine Collective Stand hosted a reception and welcomed Ambassador Nathaniel G. Imperial and Consul General Elmer G. Cato, along with other representatives from the Philippine Embassy in Rome and the Philippine Consulate in Milan.
Aside from these, the Philippines supported a special Happy Hour event called Drink & Draw with the Philippines, organized by German Stories and the Frankfurter Buchmesse. This was held on April 1, 2025 in Hall 30, B24-C11.
Since 1964, the Bologna Children’s Book Fair has been the industry-leading fair where professionals working in children’s content from all over the world meet for networking, rights selling, and other opportunities for cross-media adaptation, as well as expand their knowledge in the art of creating children’s books through fora, workshops, exhibits, talks, and other activities. Over 25,000 visitors attend the BCBF every year.
This year, the BCBF featured 1,500 exhibitors from approximately 90 countries and regions around the world. The Philippine country stand was located at Hall 29, B24-C23.