2024 Children Plus Special Exhibition is placed under the theme of fashion. A collection of over 150 picture books from outstanding Chinese and international publishers encapsulates a vast array of shapes, threads, fabrics, clothes, visions, and dreams, composing a vivid visual poem.
Threads, fabrics, and clothes permeate literature in every era and corner of the globe. The language of narrative is interlaced with threads: terms like text, plot, twist and thread indicate a strong and permanent affiliation with sewing, and textile techniques. Stories whispered and passed down throughout history as hands weave, sew, braid and mend are entangled in the warp and weft of fabric.
Given that every story weaves into the next one, this collection of books we are delighted to share with you is arranged like a wonder wardrobe in which every item and plot morphs into the next. Simply pull open a zip, unwind a ball of yarn, sew a button back on or rummage through a pocket and you’ll be plunged into a new narrative in an era distant or close, winding up in some real or imaginary drawer or trunk.
The international selection of books coming from 21 countries is an endless tangle of visible and invisible threads, creating splendid garments for you to select, put on, and most importantly, create. Presenting fashion history, key figures and iconic designs conjured up to dress characters in children’s literature, some activity books are for children to use as creative tools to reimagine and reclothe the world in new forms.
Prepare to meet figures who honour the age-old technical skills of spinning, weaving, sewing, tailoring, knitting, embroidery, and mending, as we pay homage to ties that bind generations and connections that sustain individuals, families, and communities across lifetimes.
The language of clothes in picture books deeply embodies the wish to tell every child: how great it is to see you! Here are some shapes for you to protect and adorn, full of opportunities for free play and movement. The onus is very much on you. We cannot wait to see your creations: in fact, we need your reinventions to bring new colours into the world.
As well as extending a warm welcome to all our readers, we invite you to browse through these pages for the tools of the trade, the shapes and silhouettes that most appeal to your taste. Take your time. Stop and look at things you don’t already know, even if at first they may seem disorienting, challenging or playful. We hope the journey and playfulness inherent to reading these picture books from around the world, crafted to delight you and weave new stories, gives you as much joy as it did the illustrators, authors, and curators who selected them for you.
Supported by Bologna Children’s Book Fair, the Exhibition is conceived and curated by Marcella Terrusi, Assistant Professor at the Department of Quality Life Studies of the Alma Mater - University of Bologna, Silvana Sola, Professor of History of Illustration, ISIA Urbino and Mariaelena Schiavo, International Sales and Special Projects BCBF & CCBF.
