The Best Books for Boys from the Bologna Children's Book Fair

What is traditional publishing doing to face the "boy crisis"? Very little. The most interesting finds come from indie and international publishers.

At the beginning of April, like every year, I attended the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, the world's most important children’s book fair.

I usually go as a visitor, but this year, I was invited to talk about Stellar Stories for Boys of the Future at an exciting panel titled “Where the Boys Are: The Right Books Can Make Them Heroes,” organized by Porter Anderson, editor-in-chief of Publishing Perspectives.

At a time when many boys and young men are struggling to finish school, earn a degree, develop a career, and become the loving, supportive husbands and fathers we know they can be, this panel will examine the unique opportunity the book industry has to help young men navigate their crises, just as it has consistently done for girls and young women.

Porter Anderson

Anderson asked a difficult question: in the face of what is called the “boy crisis,” why are traditional publishers not stepping up in the way they did for girls when we understood how important it was to find ways to invite them to explore STEM skills or adventure?

He also proposed a hypothesis, confirmed to me by two sales directors of two big publishing groups: the publishing industry views boys as "non-readers" and, therefore, is reluctant to experiment with new proposals and formats.

But if we know that books are fundamental for developing empathy and that reading comprehension is crucial for democracy... shouldn’t we stop thinking of boys as a lost cause and instead experiment with many different ways to engage them?

So far, the offer of books specifically targeted to boys comprehends mainly dinosaurs, vehicles, humorous books, superheroes, and adventures.

There have been a few exceptions: Jonathan Simcosky, acquiring editor at Quarto, who recently published Richard Reeve’s Yes Boys Can, Inspiring Stories of Men Who Changed the World, was on the panel with me. Here’s what Jonathan said:

No doubt for the better, there are now loads of books for girls. But more than one parent has recounted to me how their boys were reading those books because there wasn’t really anything for them.

The number of people who attended the panel, though, showed how interest in this topic is growing exponentially. Publisher’s Weekly wrote about it here.

Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2025, Where the Boys Are panel

Is it possible that innovation in this field can only come “from the outside?”

I believe it is. I believe that is why some of the most interesting books reframing masculinity that I found at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair come from indie, small publishing houses, and many of them have *not* originated in the English-speaking market. Even more interesting, some have been translated into many languages, except English.

The Best Books for Boys I Found in Bologna

Let’s take a look!

1 – Ruben Rovati, Marcello – Published by Lazy Dog

I LOVED this book, a very fresh release. It’s the very funny story of a very strong boxer from Rimini (a city in the Italian region of Emilia Romagna) who eats tons of piadine and has mountains of muscles… and about the note he leaves in the pocket of the judge of one of his boxing matches. Awww! You can actually pull the note from the pocket at the end of the book and see what it says. It’s wonderful.

2 – Bjørn F. Røvik and Alice Lima de Faria, To Sma Riddere (Two Little Knights) – Published by Cappelen Damm

A knight wearing leopard-print boots who’s afraid of getting dirty while going to rescue a princess who doesn’t want to be rescued because she's at a sort of rave where a dragon is setting off fireworks? Give it to me, baby.

This book has been published in: Finnish, Chinese, Italian, Ukrainian, Greek, German, Swedish, Slovenian, Spanish, and even Russian! No English, though.

3 – Guia Risari and Cinzia Ghigliano, Splendide Creature (Splendid Creatures) – Published by Settenove
There’s a need for books for children who don’t firmly identify as boys or girls (they do exist, I assure you). Stories that keep a space for self-discovery and exploration open, separate from rigid gender categories that might suit many but not everyone. Splendid Creatures is a precious book for those kids; it speaks of communion with nature and leaves us suspended in a time full of poetry and quiet. Only available in Italian for now.

4 – Joana Estrela, My Own Way– Published in English by Wide Eyed Editions

This 2020 book, which arrived in Italy in 2022, has just been reissued by its original Portuguese publisher, Planeta Tangerina. It’s wonderful for creating space around concepts like blue or pink and many other gender stereotypes that reach children in a very rigid and prescriptive way, making them believe they must fit into strict boxes. They don’t, and it’s important to have a book like this to remind them!

5 – Guillaume Perrault, The Postman from Space, Published in English by Holiday House
This graphic novel is part of the “Postman from Space” series, recommended for ages 6 and up in Italy and France (10 and up in the United States). I’m including it here for a couple of reasons. First, if you’ve read Stellar Stories for Boys of the Future, it’s fun to continue this space journey by following the adventures of a postman who has to deliver mail on difficult planets, encountering all sorts of situations. Second, this book belongs to a category I’d call… “normal jobs” — books I find very beautiful and refreshing, especially for boys. They don’t depict superhero lives but rather normal lives dealing with challenges like making bread, delivering noodles at a market, or, indeed, delivering mail. I believe these are important kinds of stories to get for your kids.

6 – Berta Paramo, Lice: How to Survive Humans – Published in English by Helvetiq
This 2023 book caught my attention because flipping perspectives is always an interesting exercise that strengthens empathy muscles. Doing it while talking about a parasite is a paradox. And if the parasite is a louse, it’s also very funny. I’d recommend it for ages 11/12 and up. It seemed genuinely hilarious to me.

---

We must ask ourselves:

What are the obstacles that boys will face because they are boys? What role does the system play in shaping boys’ lives? What is the dark side of male privilege, and what can be done to expose the fallacies of this system and make sure that boys learn there may be an alternative?

These are the kinds of questions I addressed in the stories I included in Stellar Stories for Boys of the Future. You can find it on Amazon, or order it at your favorite bookstore (albeit - being it published independently through print-on-demand - it could take a bit longer to get it at a store).

I hope you found some inspiration in this list. In the comments, feel free to add titles that help reframe masculinity!

Two podcasts

• Be a Better Ally is a Podcast of “Critical Conversations for K12 Educators” by Tricia Friedman. Tricia invited me to have a conversation with her about the impact of storytelling in rethinking masculinity. Listen to it here.

• Julia Middleton from the global non-profit Women Emerging asked me a tricky question: do the stories boys grow up with impact the way men show up at work? And what should women be aware of when they lead a team of men? If you’re interested, you can listen to the our conversation here.

One more thing

On May 6th at 12.30 pm EST tune in on Substack for a live book presentation where I’ll be in conversation with

Ruth Whippman

author of Boymom: Raising Boys in the Age of Impossible Masculinity. Have lunch with us, or breakfast if you are in California (9.30am PST), or tea if you’re in the UK (5.30pm). If you are interested in freeing boys from harming gender stereotypes, I promise you’ll find this conversation interesting.