Books as Spaces of Possibility
Exploring imagination, play, critical thinking and children's voices
At a Glance
Dates and Location:
4 to 9 April 2027, Reggio Emilia, Italy, with a full-day visit to Bologna Children's Book Fair (early registration price until 7 February 2027)
Who it's for: teachers, early years educators, librarians, illustrators, publishers and museum educators interested in children's books, imagination and creativity
Language: English
Group size: up to 20 participants
Fee: from €700, or €1,445 with accommodation at the early registration price. Erasmus+ KA1 fundable.
Erasmus+ priorities: inclusion and diversity; participation in democratic life; environment and climate
About the Course
What can a book invite us to imagine, question, make or share?
Through this course, we would like to offer a space to explore books as places of encounter: between words and images, materials and ideas, children and adults, and different ways of understanding the world. We invite participants to approach books with curiosity, considering how reading, making and playing can open possibilities for learning and expression.
Three connected perspectives guide our explorations throughout the week.
Gianni Rodari, playing with language and possibilities. What happens when we interrupt the familiar and imagine otherwise? Through unexpected word pairings, invented objects, stories with altered rules and alternative viewpoints, we explore how imagination opens up different ways of thinking. Rodari's work invites us to play with language, follow surprising connections and consider how storytelling can become a space for questioning, invention and freedom of expression.
Bruno Munari, discovering through materials and design. What can a book communicate through its shape, texture, rhythm and surprises? We explore books through folds, holes, transparency, sequence and scale. Drawing inspiration from Munari's experiments, we consider how materials and design invite curiosity, touch and discovery. Making becomes a way of thinking: a page can suggest a movement, a texture can begin a story, and an unexpected combination can change the direction of an idea.
The Reggio Emilia experience, children as meaning-makers. How do we listen to children's interpretations and give their ideas room to develop? We consider how children make connections, construct meanings and communicate through different expressive languages. Through books, pedagogical documentation and shared inquiry, we explore the adult's role in listening, offering possibilities and creating conditions in which children can change, extend and contribute to what happens.
These perspectives meet throughout the week. We move between words, images and materials, following the relationships that emerge through experimentation. Imagination and critical thinking develop together as we question a familiar narrative, consider another interpretation or discover that a book can work in a way we had not anticipated.
A week of encounters, exploration and making. Based in Reggio Emilia, the course includes a guided visit to the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre and its exhibition exploring the encounter between Gianni Rodari and Reggio Emilia. This offers an opportunity to connect Rodari's ideas with children's experiences of storytelling, imagination and inquiry.
We also spend a full day at Bologna Children's Book Fair, exploring books, illustration and publishing from different cultural and linguistic contexts. Participants follow their own interests alongside shared questions, bringing discoveries back into our conversations and creative work.
A visit and atelier at REMIDA bring reclaimed materials into our exploration of bookmaking and storytelling. A fragment, an unusual surface or an unexpected shape might suggest a character, a setting or a way of turning a page. As we make books and invent stories, we explore how materials with previous lives can invite new meanings and possibilities.
Who is This For
This course welcomes people interested in children's books, imagination and the relationships between creativity, play and learning. It offers an opportunity to experience Bologna Children's Book Fair as part of a week of exploration and exchange in Reggio Emilia.
You might come with a question from your practice, an interest in developing your own creative work or a wish to explore books with people from different backgrounds.
No previous knowledge of Rodari, Munari or the Reggio Emilia Approach is required. You do not need drawing or bookmaking experience. Curiosity and a willingness to explore are enough to begin.
What We Do
Throughout the week, we move between reading, making, conversation and reflection. We explore stories and picturebooks, play with language, investigate materials and consider how a book's form influences the experience of encountering it. Participants work individually and with others, with time to follow their interests and exchange perspectives. We gather questions, references and experiments as we go, returning to them after visits and using them to develop further ideas. The programme includes a guided visit to the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre and the Gianni Rodari exhibition, a visit to REMIDA, a bookmaking atelier, and a full day at Bologna Children's Book Fair.
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We begin with a welcome aperitivo, an introduction to the course and time to get to know one another.
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We explore Gianni Rodari's approach to imagination through unexpected word pairings, fantastic hypotheses, altered stories and collective invention. What happens when a familiar story follows a different rule? What can a mistake set in motion? We consider how playing with language can encourage us to question assumptions and imagine alternatives. A guided visit to the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre and the exhibition on Rodari and Reggio Emilia connects these explorations with children's experiences of storytelling, creative expression and inquiry. We close by developing questions to take to the book fair.
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We travel together to Bologna Children's Book Fair for a full day of exploration. Participants encounter books, illustration and publishing from different cultural and linguistic contexts. Shared inquiry prompts encourage close observation, alongside time to follow individual interests and attend relevant events where access and scheduling allow. We look for books that invite participation, challenge expectations or leave room for readers to construct meaning. Each participant brings back discoveries and questions for our continuing work in Reggio Emilia.
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We begin by sharing discoveries from the fair and exploring how books communicate through their materials, structure and design. Drawing on Bruno Munari's work, we investigate texture, transparency, folds, holes, sequence and surprise. What happens when a book has no words, several beginnings or pages that invite us to do something? At REMIDA, we bring these questions into practical exploration.
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We explore how readers interpret images, fill gaps and bring their own experiences to a story. Working with picturebooks, wordless narratives and our own book experiments, we compare different readings and consider what supports them. Children's voices guide our discussion. How can we invite their interpretations without deciding the meaning in advance? How might drawing, movement, oral storytelling and materials help them express and develop ideas?
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We return to the books, stories, questions and experiments gathered throughout the week. Participants have time to revisit something that interested them: develop a book further, explore a storytelling idea, plan an activity or reflect on a question connected to their work. We share what we have discovered and consider how these experiences might continue in classrooms, libraries, studios, cultural spaces or personal creative practice. The week closes with a collective reflection and an exchange of resources, the awarding of the Certificate of Attendance.
What You Take Home
A deeper understanding of imagination and play, and how playful experimentation can support invention, inquiry, critical thinking and expression.
Connections between Rodari, Munari and the Reggio Emilia educational experience, and how their ideas inform different approaches to books, childhood and learning.
New ways of encountering books, investigating how words, images, materials and physical form contribute to meaning and invite participation.
Practical experience of bookmaking and storytelling, experimenting with language and reclaimed materials through processes adaptable to different ages and contexts.
Approaches to listening to children's ideas, exploring questions and invitations that make room for interpretation, dialogue and authorship.
A broader perspective on children's publishing, discovering books and illustration from different cultural and linguistic contexts at Bologna Children's Book Fair.
Ideas and resources for continued exploration: book experiments, notes, references and possibilities connected to your interests.
Connections across professional fields, exchanging perspectives with people working in education, publishing, libraries, art and design.
Meet Your Facilitator
Ozgen B.
Further Reading & Useful Resources
No advance reading is required. These resources offer starting points for exploration before, during and after the course.
Bologna Children's Book Fair (https://www.bolognachildrensbookfair.com/en/home/878.html): information about the fair, exhibitors, exhibitions and events.
Gianni Rodari, The Grammar of Fantasy (https://enchantedlion.com/all-books/the-grammar-of-fantasy-an-introduction-to-the-art-of-inventing-stories): a central reference for exploring imagination, language and the invention of stories.
Corraini Edizioni (https://corraini.com/en/): books connecting art, design and childhood, including work by Bruno Munari.
Bruno Munari, Prebooks (https://corraini.com/en/products/i-prelibri): an invitation to consider how books communicate through materials, sensory exploration and surprise.
Reggio Children (https://www.reggiochildren.it/en/): publications, exhibitions and professional learning connected to the Reggio Emilia educational experience.
A Fantastic Binomial: Gianni Rodari and Reggio Emilia (https://www.reggiochildren.it/en/rc/exhibitions/a-fantastic-binomial/): an introduction to the encounter between Rodari and Reggio Emilia and its connections with children's imagination and creative participation.
Erasmus+ Programme Priorities (https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/about-erasmus/programme-priorities): a reference for connecting the course with organisational aims around inclusion, participation and environmental responsibility.
Fees & What’s Included
Two ways to join.
Both include the same course and the same participant services; the full package adds your accommodation.
Full package · €1,445 Early registration price. After early-bird €1,545.
Course fee, participant services and six nights of accommodation with breakfast.
Limited availability, depending on the location. Tell us when you register and we will confirm it with you.
Course and services · €700Course fee and participant services. You arrange your own accommodation, and we share suggestions once your place is confirmed.
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Course fee, €480: full participation in the programme, facilitation and pedagogical accompaniment throughout the week, interpretation where needed, Certificate of Attendance.
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Participant services and cultural programme, €220: welcome aperitivo on the first evening, coffee breaks, a closing dinner, a cultural visit, the welcome packet with schedule and readings, course materials, translation when required and transport within the programme.
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Six nights of accommodation, with breakfast, near the course venue, and three lunches during the programme, on top of everything above.
The full package depends on the accommodation we can secure at each location, so places are limited. Tell us when you register if you would like it, and we will confirm availability.
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The early registration price applies to pre-registrations made eight weeks or more before the course starts. Later registrations cost €1,545, because of short notice accommodation and arrangements.
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Travel to and from the course location, and meals outside the programme, and personal purchases.
Dates and Registration
Dates and Location:
4 to 9 April 2027, Reggio Emilia, Italy, with a full-day visit to Bologna Children's Book Fair (early registration price until 7 February 2027)
The course runs once enough participants have registered; please wait for our confirmation before booking travel.
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We confirm each course by email once enough participants have registered. Book flights and accommodation only after that, and choose flexible bookings; if we have to cancel a course, we refund you in full, but we can't cover travel costs.
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No. Pre-registration is free and there is no deposit. You pay by bank transfer only once your place is confirmed, and the amount is the one shown on the course page, with no extra fees. If your Erasmus+ grant hasn't arrived yet, tell us and we'll agree a timeline.
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Yes. All our courses fit Erasmus+ KA1 staff mobility. We provide a confirmation letter, a Learning or Mobility Agreement on your institution's template, a fee breakdown and a Certificate of Attendance. Our OID is E10299488.
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Tell us as early as you can. You can pass your place to a colleague or move to a future course at no cost. If you need a refund instead, the terms depend on how close to the start you cancel; they are in our Terms and Conditions.
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See the full FAQ.