My Bologna Book Fair Diary 2019

On Tuesday afternoon when I arrived at the Fiere, I was greeted by the 2019 Bologna Ragazzi Award winners! Congratulations to all! The poster was so beautifully framed by the perfectly parked bicycles that I couldn’t resist taking a photo.

This Bologna Book Fair was going to be a special one. I was accompanied by my Storm Literary authors/illustrators/team mates Vivian Kirkfield and Fiona Halliday, and a champion of picture books, writer and wonderful reviewer, Maria Marshall http://www.mariacmarshall.com. We were looking for book babies– our own and those of writer friends!

We bumped into writer and illustrator, Eleanor Ann Peterson http://www.eleanorannpeterson.com, who joined us for an afternoon to chat with her online buddy, Vivian, and tell us about her new book JURASSIC RAT, publishing with Clear Fork later this year. Watch this space!

As the Bologna Book Fair is teeming with illustrators, I had my Doodle Diary at hand just in case. Last year a few lovely illustrators obliged me with a doodle for my sketch book and this year, I am happy to say, they did again.

The first was the lovely Luciana Navarro Powell http://www.lucianaillustration.com. As well as posing for a selfie, she kindly signed a postcard for a friend, whose book she is illustrating, and she doodled in my diary. She is the illustrator of A Tiny Brown Monkey on the Big Blue Earth by Tory Christie, publishing in August 2019 with Amicus Ink http://www.amicuspublishing.us!

Next, we had the pleasure of meeting Tanja Stephani, http://www.lartquirit.ch, and Devon Holzwarth, http://www.devonholzwarth.com. Both of these lovely ladies have books coming out very soon. Watch this space!

While at dinner, my SCBWI Swiss chapter illustrator friend, Simona Ceccarelli, doodled too! Simona has a book launching very soon – IF YOU HAD YOUR BIRTHDAY PARTY ON THE MOON, by Joyce Lapin, publishing with Sterling on April 23rd. Check out more of wonderful art on http://www.smceccarelli.com, and I can’t wait to review the book at the Little Red Story Shed very soon!

What is the best thing about the Bologna Book Fair? The books of course, but also the people and the beautiful city. I can’t wait to visit again next year!

Thanks for stopping by.