2026 International Children’s Book Festival
Fri 9 October – Sun 11 October 2026
for children aged 7–12
Day 1 – International Children’s Book Festival 2026
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Day 2 – International Children’s Book Festival 2026
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Day 3 – International Children’s Book Festival 2026
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Past International Children's Book Festival
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Every Story Starts a Journey – Discovering the world through stories
Stories bring people together. They open up new perspectives, spark curiosity and invite us to see the world through different eyes.
The International Children’s Book Festival sees children’s literature as a bridge between people, languages and cultures. Renowned authors, illustrators and artists invite visitors to discover stories, ask questions and get creative themselves – through readings, workshops, storytelling sessions and discussions.
Look forward to readings with Margit Auer, Isabel Abedi, Efua Traoré and Isabel Pin; workshop discussions with illustrator Andrea Wandinger; live drawing; bilingual storytelling with Kathleen Rappolt and musician Erik Sjøholm; musical readings; shared reading; translation workshops; philosophical workshops; and a bilingual book fair.
Whether it’s fantasy, friendship, nature, science or social issues – the festival demonstrates how children’s literature conveys complex topics in a sensitive, intelligent and inspiring way. Multilingual events and encounters with international guests make the festival a vibrant place for discovery, participation and further reflection.
A festival pass is available here.
International Children’s Book Festival comes to schools
Our aim with the festival is to reach as many children as possible. And where better to do that than at school! Alongside the festival’s public programme, we therefore offer a separate school programme, which classes from the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region can take part in. If you are interested, please register by email: kibu-festival@dai-heidelberg.de
The generous support from the Manfred Lautenschläger Foundation makes the International Children’s Book Festival possible and enables children, families and a wide variety of voices to come together.
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all our partners for their commitment and the trust they have placed in us:
