At a prize ceremony on Monday night, Bologna Children's Book Fair announced the winners of its annual BOP – Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year. The prizes cover six regions around the world and are sponsored by the fair, as well as the AIE – Associazione Italiana Editori, and the International Publishers Association. The winner is voted on by fellow publishers and acknowledges those who have "stood out over the last year for their innovation, creativity and the quality of their editorial choices."
The winners, with citations, are:
Africa: Trinta Zero Nove, Mozambique. Editora Trinta Zero Nove is the first independent publisher dedicated to publishing translated works in Mozambique. Founded in 2018 by Sandra Tamele to publish a collection of short stories translated by the winners of the Literary Translation Competition as part of International Translation Day, it has since expanded its catalogue to give a voice to minority authors. In 2021, it was ranked in the 100 best startups in Africa as part of the third edition of Access Bank’s Pitch-athon.
Asia: Wonder House Books, India. Wonder House is an imprint of Prakash Books India Pvt. Ltd., India’s largest book distributor. Wonder began activities in 2017 as a small business and has now grown to become a full-fledged publisher with a large team of professionals and a catalogue of unique titles for children, from stories to picture books, activity books to fairy tales. Its mission is to develop children’s passion for reading, expanding their imaginations through illustrated books that represent quality, creativity, and innovation.
Europe: The Old Lion Publishing House, Ukraine. The Old Lion is a Ukrainian publisher that produces books for the whole family. It aims to produce books that appeal to every reader, from the youngest to the oldest: picture books, poems for children, stories for school-aged children, a series for teens, nonfiction for various ages, as well as atlases and more.
North America: La Courte Échelle, Canada. Created in 1978 by author Bertrand Gauthier, it became the first publishing house in Québec to specialize exclusively in children’s literature. Influenced by Europe’s dynamic approach to young peoples’ literature, Gauthier wanted to “bring Québec up to date,” and published original and pertinent works by local authors. The community responded with enthusiasm and the catalogue quickly expanded to include books for all age groups, such as board books for toddlers, picture books for beginning readers, and novels for pre-teens and teens.
Central and South America and the Caribbean: Editorial Amanuta, Chile. A publisher of picture books for children and young people since 2002 with the intent to entertain, inspire, move, and teach. Amanuta, in fact, means “with intent” in the Aymara language and the publisher strives to create books with intent, dedication, work, and a lot of love. The goal is to offer innovative and creative proposals that adapt to the current times, and to promote and encourage the development of young people with books that stimulate their creativity and imagination, preparing them to face the future by combining tradition and modernity.
Oceania: Magabala Books, Australia. Magabala Books is Australia’s leading Indigenous publisher. Owned and managed by Indigenous Australians, it celebrates and nurtures talent and the diversity of voices of islanders from the Torres Strait and aborigines from all over Australia, including prizewinning authors. An independent Indigenous non-profit organization, Magabala publishes titles in a vast range of genres. In 1984 more than 500 aboriginal leaders and elders met at a cultural festival to discuss how to protect and bolster their culture. That meeting laid the foundations for Magbala Books. In 2019 Magbala was Australia’s fastest growing small independent publisher and in 2020 it was nominated Small Publisher of the Year at the Australian Book Industry Awards.
