What I did on my summer holiday: The unexpected pleasures of an international conference

Early in 2026, a friend in Japan told me she would be going to the IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) conference in Ottawa in the summer. Was I going too? Then we got our wires crossed, and I thought she wasn’t going, so I gave it no further thought—until, one morning in mid-July, our wires untangled, and within half an hour I had registered for the conference (less than 48 hours before the deadline) and booked my flights and a residence room at Carleton University, where the conference would be taking place.

I had no idea what I was in for. I just thought it would be a fun way to meet an online friend in person for the first time and maybe learn something about international children’s book publishing along the way.

Turned out this was no average conference. It was the 40th IBBY World Congress, attended by more than 500 people from 60 countries. It was like going to the Olympics—except that it was all about children’s books, and instead of athletes there were authors, illustrators, editors, translators, publishers, booksellers, academics, teachers, and many, many librarians. A dream (one that I didn’t even know I had) come true.

The four days were packed from early morning (including a 6 a.m. sunrise ceremony by Elder Barry Sarazin, Pikwàkanagàn First Nation) until late at night with panels, presentations, keynotes, poster sessions, and award ceremonies. The theme of the congress was “Listening to Each Other’s Voices,” with a particular focus on Indigenous and 2SLGBTQI voices, and those of children with disabilities. Several times I wished I could split myself in two because it was so hard to choose what to attend: “Migrants: Wordless Picturebooks and the Lampedusa Project” or “Listening to the Whispers: Giving Voice to Young People in the Midst of War”? “Listening to Each Other’s Voices: Fighting Injustices Through Children’s Literature” or “Lighthouses in the Everyday: Listening to Children’s Voice Through Art and Literature”?

Each evening we were transported to dinner in our finery (or in one case, costumes of favourite children’s book characters). Two of the gatherings were held in the spectacular Grand Hall of the Canadian Museum of History, one of which was for the Hans Christian Andersen Awards presentation. This year’s winners were UK author Michael Rosen and Chinese illustrator Cai Gao.

Highlights for me included the panel on IBBY’s Children in Crisis Fund and keynotes by four Canadian publishing rockstar-superheroes: author-illustrator Sydney Smith (previous winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award and two-time winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award); author-illustrator Jon Klassen (of I Want My Hat and This Is Not My Hat fame); author David Robertson (winner of the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and the Writer’s Union of Canada Freedom to Read Award, and two-time Governor General’s Literary Award winner); and author, spoken-word artist, and anti-racism educator Khodi Dill (check out Welcome to the Cypher).

Best of all, though? Of course, it was the people I met, especially those from Japan, India, Slovenia, Denmark—and Canada. But very best was meeting in person my friend, translator Noriko Otsuka. What I hadn’t realized before we met in Ottawa was that she didn’t just translate my children’s book After Life; she found it herself and recommended it to a Japanese publisher. What I also didn’t know was that Noriko is an executive of the Japanese Board on Books for Young People (JBBY), which is hosting next year’s IBBY Asia-Pacific Regional Conference in Tokyo. So now I’m doubly grateful to her—not just for bringing my book to Japanese audiences but also for inspiring my summer’s unexpected big adventure and introducing me to a passionate, committed, and active international community that I barely knew existed.

Interested in children’s books and up for an adventure? The next IBBY World Congress will be in Barcelona, in October 2028. I can’t wait!