End of March can be grim weather wise, which is why the annual Bologna Children’s Book Fair comes at a great time to lift all of our spirits. Usually the weather is better than the UK and by the time you come back the clocks have changed and suddenly everything is lighter and brighter.
I love book fairs, not to see other publishers and what they publish – I try to avoid that. Seeing all the publishers around the world and the vast quantity of books on offer did make me feel sorry for trees, but then maybe they will get the last laugh as we head into the digital age of publishing.
It also made me realise (without being big headed) how good our books are compared to most of the books out there for children. We have always strived to make our books out of the finest materials and you can see the difference when you look at some of the sub standard books being produced.
The other amazing thing about book fairs is the people that you meet from all over the world, our stand was full of meetings with publishers and booksellers from every continent including Columbia, Hungary, Korea, Pakistan, USA, New Zealand, South Africa and of course a few British escaping March in the UK. Venice must have been rammed the weekend after the fair!
A big thank you to Emma, Tom, Kate and Sally who talked non-stop for three and a half days to publishers from over thirty countries and to Liz, Louisa and Robert for organising one of the best looking stands at the fair.
Favourite food – Artichoke salad with Parmesan and Truffles
Least favourite drink – Limoncello, sorry I just don’t get it, I don’t even like the colour.
Favourite foreign accent whilst speaking English – got to be Dutch
