Three Canadian publishers—Owlkids Books, Orca Book Publishers and La courte échelle—have been nominated for the 2023 Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year. Six prizes are awarded annually, one for each geographical area: Europe; Asia; Africa; North America; Oceania; and Caribbean, Central and South America.

The winners will be announced at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, which runs from March 6–9, 2023.

Previous Canadian winners include Monsieur Ed, (2022), Les 400 coups (2020), Comme des géants (2019) and Kids Can Press (2017).

About the Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year
The prize, organized by the Bologna Children’s Book Fair and AIE—Italian Publishers Association in partnership with IPA— International Publishers Association, awards those publishers who have most distinguished themselves for their professional and intellectual skills in each of the six areas of the world: Africa; Caribbean, Central and South America; North America; Asia; Europe; and Oceania. At the same time, the prize is designed to foster a mutual exchange of knowledge and ideas among different countries, areas, and cultural identities across the world.

The initiative is open to all publishing houses specialized in children’s books, or which have major production lines dedicated to young readers. The prize-winning publishers shall be chosen by the exhibitors taking part in the annual Bologna Children’s Book Fair on the basis of a series of nominations they send in, along with those of Publishers Associations and book institutions throughout the world.

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