At events like the London Book Fair, the very idea that children and children’s books might share the same space is quite inconceivable.

The 38th Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino drew 254,000 visitors, a significant jump from the 231,000 recorded in 2025.

Themed after Elsa Morante’s Il mondo salvato dai ragazzini (“The World Saved by Kids”), the fair placed youth engagement at its core. The Bookstock area for children and teenagers saw a 25% year-on-year increase, attracting 34,500 young visitors.

The Romance Pop Up space facilitated 6,500 meet-and-greet sessions, with authors signing an estimated 30,000 books over two days.

Market Recovery and Sales Performance

The Italian book market showed signs of recovery in early 2026, with general publishing growing 2.5% in volume and 3.8% in value during the first four months, according to AIE data presented at the fair.

Exhibitor sentiment was buoyant: Mondadori reported a 10% sales increase, Feltrinelli 20%, Adelphi 25%, Neri Pozza 50%, Iperborea 17%, and SUR 60% -the latter boosted by Zadie Smith’s opening keynote, which also produced the fair’s bestselling title.

Rights Centre and Professional Programming

The Rights Centre remains a strategic fixture in the international calendar, positioned between London and Frankfurt. In 2026, 480 professionals from 39 countries registered on the platform, including 39 film production companies, 147 scouts and literary agencies, and 295 publishers.

The Italian Trade Agency (ITA) supported 80 fellows from 34 countries through a three-day programme. Over 4,000 meetings took place between publishers, agents, scouts, and screen professionals.

The fair also deepened its Book to Screen initiative, a fellowship dating back to 2018 that bridges publishing and audiovisual rights. Professional tracks for translators, librarians, and educators ran alongside the trade floor.

Awards and Guest Programmes

The 13th Premio Strega Europeo was awarded to Argentine journalist Leila Guerriero for La chiamata (Sur), a narrative account of an Argentine woman’s life. The Aficionado Award – held in partnership with Frankfurter Buchmesse – shortlisted projects from Words Without Borders, DC Books, and Borderland, with the winner to be announced in Frankfurt.

Greece’s Guest of Honour programme, titled “Greece in Real Time,” brought 13 authors into dialogue with Italian counterparts, coordinated by the Hellenic Foundation for Books and Culture.

The View From the Beach

The 39th edition will run 13–17 May 2027, with the Rights Centre opening 12–14 May. Catalonia has been announced as Guest of Honour Literature for 2027, returning to a role it first held in 2007. But for me, what stood out is fair’s focus on children and teens.

The children and teens pulled in 34,500 young visitors, physically attending a book fair. At events like the London Book Fair, the very idea that children and children’s books might share the same space is quite inconceivable.

This post first appeared the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed.