Two NZ publishers have been nominated for the BOP – Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year, which acknowledges the most significant publishers in each of the six areas of the world: Africa, Central and South America, North America, Asia, Europe and Oceania.

The prize, now in it’s 6th year, is organized by the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in partnership with AIE – Italian Publishers Association, and awards  those publishers who have most distinguished themselves for their creative and publishing excellence over the last year, showing originality as well as professional and intellectual skills. At the same time, the prize is designed to foster a mutual exchange of knowledge and ideas among different nations and areas of the world.

This year the Oceania group of 5 nominees includes two NZ publishers: OneTree House and Oratia Media.

The other three are Windy Hollow, Scribbles for Kids and Magabala Books from Australia.

The prize is open to all publishing houses specializing in children’s books, or those with imprints 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.  

The inaugural prize was won by Gecko Press of Wellington in 2013.