The winners of the 2018 Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year were announced at a ceremony last night at City Hall. Prizes were given to one publisher in each of six different geographic regions. The winners were drawn from nominations made by publishers who are attending the fair and from those made by publisher associations and other book institutions. Those same groups voted on the winners, who were chosen for their “creative and publishing excellence over the last year.”

The winners are:

• Africa: Jacana Media (South Africa)

Jacana Media, based in Johannesburg, started its children’s division in 2006. It has developed a reputation for publishing books that are entirely Southern African in content, idiom, illustration, and style. The publisher offers books in multiple languages, including English, Afrikaans, Sesotho, and Setswana.

• Asia: Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers (Japan)

Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers started publishing children’s books in 1952 and currently offers eight new titles, both fiction and nonfiction, each month. The publisher was instrumental in translating numerous picture books from abroad into Japanese and has produced its own popular titles, such as Kiki’s Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono and Mitsumasa Anno’s Journey series.

• Central and South America: Ediciones Tecolote (Mexico)

Founded in 1993, Ediciones Tecolote is dedicated to publishing books that show the cultural and artistic heritage of Mexico for children. Many titles focus on history, art, and architecture. The publisher has won two Bologna Ragazzi New Horizons Awards: in 2007 for El libro negro de los colores (The Black Book of Colors) and in 2012 for Migrar (Migrate).

• Europe: Dwie Siostry Publishers (Poland)

The company’s stated mission is to “publish beautiful and clever books for Polish children” and foster readers for classic children’s literature. Dwie Siostry’s focus is on promoting young and talented Polish authors, illustrators, and graphic artists.

• North America: Editions D’eux (Canada)

This Quebec publishing house, founded by France Leduc and Yves Nadon, says it views “reading as a transformative act” for children and has published 20 titles. These include Si j’étais ministre de la Culture... (If I Was Minister of Culture...) by Carole Fréchette and Thierry Dedieu, and Le citronnier (The Lemon Tree) by Ilia Castro and Barroux.

• Oceania: OneTree House (New Zealand)

Based in Auckland, under the shadow of the volcanic peak One Tree Hill, the publisher says it “aims to reach out to the world with a range of carefully crafted works, each destined to become much-loved stories, told by New Zealand authors and illustrators.”