The youth press market - Italy (2023)

1.1 Definition and presentation

Most publishing houses in their offerings have children's books that differ from normal books because they are written in a simplified manner and usually contain numerous pictures and illustrations. There are many types of children's books such as novels, storybooks, poetry books, and comic books. Generally, children's books are divided by age as follows:

-0-3 years: often made of cloth with many colors and with sounds added (they are more like toys than books)

-2 years old: characterized by the large presence of pictures and few parts of text

-3-5 years: feature increasingly written and articulated stories

-ages 5-7: have an increasingly limited number of pictures

As for the global market, this is estimated to grow at a compounded growth rate (CARG) between the year 2021e 2026 is 3%. The major companies globally in this market are: Pearson, Reed Elsevier, and ThomsonReuters.

At the Italian level, the children's book market continues to show signs of growth. In 2017, the market grew by 7.9% compared to 2016, and also in the same year, the weight children's books had on the export of book rights increased by 7.7% compared to the previous year.

The main trend within this market is the advent of digital. In fact, today in addition to the print version it is possible to buy books, including children's books, in digital format. The digital format, usually used by older children, also provides the opportunity to be able to interact with the book itself or to listen to it in audiobook version.

In Italy numerous publishing houses are involved in writing and publishing children's books. The main ones are Albe Edizioni, Becco Giallo Edizioni, Orecchio Acerbo S.r.l and Feltrinelli Kids.