Clever Book: Who We Are, What We've Built, and Why It Matters to You

The Company in Brief

Clever Book Ltd. was founded in Sofia, Bulgaria by Ana Atanasova and Maia Bobeva – two publishing professionals who believed that the best children's products live at the intersection of play and learning.

15 years later, that belief has translated into a concrete, measurable body of work:

 

·        300+ titles across books, card sets, games and interactive learning tools

·        Products available in 7 countries – and growing

·        Over 1,500,000 copies sold

·        3× winner of the Bisserche Valshebno Award – Bulgaria's most prominent children's book prize, voted by children themselves

·        Regular presence at Bologna Children's Book Fair and Frankfurt Book Fair

What We Make

Our catalogue is built around one core idea: children learn best when they're having fun.

This shapes everything – from the format and materials to the characters and stories. Our product lines span:

 

·        Educational card sets – wipe-clean, puzzle and memory formats covering literacy, numeracy, emotions and everyday skills

·        Picture book series – including the award-winning Lilly the Chick, beloved for its warm rhyming stories and instantly recognisable characters

·        Interactive learning tools – including our internationally recognised Book in a Box finger puppet theatre concept

·        Little Wild Wisdoms – a card series combining illustration, poetry and emotional intelligence, designed to work across ages and cultures

 

Every product is developed with both the child and the adult in mind – because the best learning happens together.

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Where You'll Find Us

Clever Book products are currently available – through retail, distribution or licensing partnerships – in:

 

Estonia, Switzerland, China, Serbia, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia.

 

Each of these markets came through a conversation that started exactly the way this article might: someone wanted to understand who we are and what we've built. We're open to having that conversation with publishers and distributors everywhere.

Made and Printed in Europe

Quality is not an afterthought for us – it's built into the process. Our products are printed in Europe, which means:

 

·        Consistent, high-quality production standards

·        Faster fulfilment for European partners

·        Full compliance with EU safety and material regulations

·        Reliable timelines for seasonal and catalogue launches

 

For publishers and distributors who care about what they put in children's hands, this matters.

Three Awards. Fifteen Years. One Direction.

Winning the Bisserche Valshebn Award for the third time in 2026 – with Lilly the Chick and the Kindergarten – is a milestone we're proud of. Not because of the statuette, but because of what the award represents: 1,599 children between the ages of 3 and 5 voted, and they chose Lilly.

That kind of validation doesn't come from a marketing budget. It comes from getting the product right.

Let's Build Something Together

If you're a publisher or distributor looking for:

 

·        Proven, market-tested children's content with international track record

·        Licensing-ready titles with strong visual identity and universal themes

·        A production and publishing partner with European standards and 15 years of experience

 

— then we'd like to talk.

Explore our CATALOG or request a meeting directly. We're at Bologna and Frankfurt every year, and always open to a good conversation.

 

 

Explore our key series:

·        Lilly Chick 

·        Educational Cards 

·        Little Wild Wisdoms 

·        Book in a Box – Finger Puppet Theatre 

 

How It All Began

Some of the best ideas start not in a boardroom, but at bedtime.

In 2010, Maia Bobeva watched her young son push away yet another book. Not because he didn't like stories – but because the books he was given didn't invite him in. The moment she found something interactive, something where he could do rather than just read, everything changed.

That observation became a company.

Maia and her long-time colleague Ana Atanasova – both seasoned professionals from the fast-paced world of magazine publishing – decided to build something different: a children's publisher that starts from the child, not the curriculum. One that treats play not as a reward for learning, but as the engine of it.

15 years later, that founding instinct is still the most important thing about us.

 

We believe the desire to learn is built into every child. Our job – as publishers, as parents, as educators – is simply not to get in the way of it.

That's why every Clever Book product is designed around 3 principles:

 ·        Learning through play – knowledge that feels like a game, not a lesson

·        Essential skills for real life – logical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and the courage to try new things

·        Emotional and social intelligence – helping children understand themselves and others, through stories and play that feel true to their world

 

These aren't values we wrote for a brochure. They're the brief we hand to every author, illustrator and designer who works with us.

The result is a catalog that parents trust, teachers recommend – and children actually want to use.