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Lilly the Chick and the Kindergarten by Maya Atanasova has won the prestigious Bulgarian children's award Bisserche Valshebn 2026 – voted by children aged 3 to 5. Here's why this matters for publishers worldwide.

You can have the best jury in the world. You can have critics, educators, booksellers and industry experts. But nothing – truly nothing – beats 1,599 children casting their votes.

That's exactly what happened at this year's Bisserche Valshebn Award – one of Bulgaria's most beloved children's book prizes, where the judges are the children themselves. And they chose Lilly the Chick and the Kindergarten by Maya Atanasova, published by Clever Book.

In the Bubolecheta category (ages 3–5), Lilly came first with 220 votes out of 11 shortlisted titles. No marketing. No algorithms. Just kids picking the book they loved most.

A sparkling booth, a tree full of wishes, and publishers from five continents – here's how Clever Book experienced the Bologna Children's Book Fair this year.

Some stands at Bologna are impressive. Some are elegant. Ours was neither of those things – it was alive.

Inspired by the illustrations of our Little Wild Wisdoms cards, our booth brought a little bit of the wild into the exhibition halls. Bright, playful and full of character – just like the products we make.

But the real star? A tree. And the tiny cards hanging from its branches.