The sixth edition of the Campiello Junior Award is underway

The applications – open until 6pm on 23 October 2026 – are aimed at works published for the first time in paper format between 1 October 2025 and 30 September 2026, whose compliance with the requirements of the regulation will be verified by a Technical Committee.

The selection method involves a double jury. The Technical Jury, chaired by Pino Boero – former full professor of Children’s Literature and Reading Pedagogy – and composed of Emma Beseghi, former full professor of Children’s Literature at the University of Bologna; Lea Martina Forti Grazzini, author and screenwriter of Rai radio and TV programmes; Chiara Lagani, actress and playwright and Michela Possamai, professor at the IUSVE University of Venice, former member of the Campiello Giovani Technical Committee, will select the finalists for each category with a public vote to be held on 24 November 2026 in Milan. The winners will instead be decreed by the Young Readers Jury, made up of 240 Italian-speaking children, resident in Italy and abroad, divided equally between the two categories; 120 of them will also be asked to vote for the section dedicated to illustrated books. The winning works belonging to the 7-10 and 11-14 year categories are awarded a cash prize of 2,000 euros, while for the illustrated books a prize of 1,000 euros goes to the author and an equal amount to the illustrator, when different. The proclamation will be held in Vicenza, in the spring of 2027, and the winners will then be celebrated during the final evening of the 2027 Campiello Prize. Pirelli with its Foundation and the Il Campiello Foundation will offer the children of the jury and all young reading enthusiasts the opportunity to participate in a series of initiatives dedicated to the world of children’s books and publishing, in which the authors of the finalist books will also take part.