Every year, a different IBBY Section sponsors ICBD, creating a poster and message that spark reading activities locally and around the world. IBBY Cyprus first took on this role in 1982 with the motto “Book, the Sun of Peace.” The 1982 poster and message can be found here:
In 2026, ICBD is sponsored by IBBY Cyprus around the theme “Plant stories and the world will bloom.” The motto was collaboratively developed during an IBBY Cyprus board meeting, along with the idea of inviting Cypriot writers and illustrators to create texts and illustrations inspired by it. This process began more than two years ago and became the foundation for all our subsequent actions.
After receiving approval from IBBY’s Executive Committee in 2024, we announced an open call to creators. By the deadline, we had received 11 texts and 2 illustrations that met the quality criteria set by our section. For the first time, both the ICBD message and image were selected by children: following an anonymous procedure, the pupils from 19 different schools chose the text by award-winning author Elena Perikleous and the illustration by acclaimed artist Sandra Eleftheriou, each working independently with the same motto as their starting point.
Since January 2025, we have been in close contact with the Deputy Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth, presenting our plans and seeking support for this special year. With the Ministry’s backing, we created the Manual for Young “Gardeners”, inspired by the 2026 ICBD message. The manual includes the official message, brief background information, biographies of the creators of the message and poster, as well as suggestions for activities and a related competition. It was distributed to all schools in Cyprus, from kindergarten to high school, and translated into English and Italian, knowing that it would travel beyond the island and inspire further initiatives.
The motto truly accompanied us every step of the way. In every presentation, we spoke about IBBY, ICBD, and our shared mission to plant seeds of stories. From the “House of Cyprus” at our Embassy in Athens-Greece, to events held alongside the Jella Lepman exhibition in Cyprus, and the touring IBBY Selection of Outstanding Books for Children with Disabilities 2023, the invitation remained the same: Plant Stories for the World to Bloom.
A significant opportunity for outreach was the symposium “Nominees and Winners of the IBBY Hans Christian Andersen Award: From Cyprus to the World and Back,” held on 25 February 2026 in Nicosia, as part of the 6th International Conference “Literatures and Contemporary Society: From Skills to Practices,” within the Cyprus EU Presidency programme. Organized by Cyprus IBBY with Shereen Kreidieh, Chair of the Hans Christian Andersen Award Jury, as a guest speaker, it allowed us to highlight the Andersen Awards, IBBY’s wider work, refer to the previous IBBY European Conference theme “Books make a difference! Children’s right to read in challenging times” https://www.ibby-europe.org/node/860, and the Asia-Pacific Regional Conference “Living in Harmony with our planet,” held in Korea—naturally weaving in the ICBD 2026 motto.
Another milestone project was the competition The Inspiring Journey of Moomins and Pippi, developed within the framework of the Cyprus EU Presidency. This was the first joint initiative of IBBY Cyprus with the Embassies of Sweden and Finland in Cyprus, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth. Aimed at primary school pupils, the competition invited children to express themselves creatively, drawing inspiration from the values of uniqueness, kindness and respect embodied by these beloved characters. We believe this collaboration has already inspired many young minds, planted new seeds and opened the way for future partnerships. The motto and ICBD were also highlighted at a press conference on 11 February at the Ministry, in the presence of the Minister of Education, Dr. Athena Michaelidou, the Ambassador of Finland, Ms. Päivi Peltokoski, the Ambassador of Sweden, Mr. Martin Hagström, and myself in my capacity as Vice-President of Cyprus IBBY. The programme runs throughout the spring semester of 2026.
https://enimerosi.moec.gov.cy/archeia/1/ypp19560ccybby
To decentralize our activities and bring ICBD celebrations closer to children and families across the country, the official Cyprus IBBY celebration for ICBD 2026 took place on 2 April in Pafos, at the “Attikon” Cultural Centre. Organized in cooperation with the Municipality of Pafos, the family-oriented event brought together speeches, creative workshops, and an interactive presentation tracing IBBY’s history from its founding to the present day, along with this year’s ICBD theme, “Plant Stories and the World Will Bloom.” Children took part as “Young Story Gardeners” in hands-on activities, and the celebration concluded with a particularly moving moment: the first public performance of the official ICBD 2026 song, The Little Gardener, sung by children and giving musical voice to the message of the day.
IBBY’s official ICBD 2026 announcement was made on 2 February, two months before the celebration day. On that same day, we announced the message at national level, and the first public reading by Elena Perikleous took place during our conference “Hans Christian Andersen Awards and ALMA 2026: Narrative Paths of Word and Image.” From then on, ICBD-related activities intensified, taking us to schools, universities and libraries across the country, with the aim not only to inform, but to inspire and encourage creation.
With these aims in mind, we approached Cypriot musician and composer Giorgos Hatzipieris, who was inspired by Elena Perikleous’s text and Sandra Eleftheriou’s illustration to create the lyrics and music for the ICBD 2026 song, The Little Gardener. This pro bono musical initiative is rooted in the ICBD 2026 message and poster, “Plant Stories and the World Will Bloom.” Since its release, the song has accompanied all our related activities, including the ICBD press conference in Bologna, where the message was read in Greek by its author in dialogue with IBBY President Basarat Kazim, who read it in English.
We were delighted to receive messages and responses from around the world as soon as we shared the ICBD 2026 message and image. The text has already been translated into more than 15 languages, with many sections sharing photos, activities and reflections on the programmes they organized.
As highlighted in the latest IBBY European Section newsletter, we also commissioned a two-piece sculptural artwork, created pro bono by artist Androniki Lasithiotaki, and inspired by this year’s ICBD message and poster. The artwork symbolically forms a bridge between Cyprus and Italy. The first sculpture was placed in the office library of the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in Cyprus, as a permanent reminder of every child’s right to read and to have access to quality books. The second was presented to IBBY Italia and will be installed at the Salaborsa Ragazzi library in Bologna, representing the “planting” and blossoming of stories across borders. Together, the two pieces stand as a lasting symbol of shared values, creativity and the strong partnership between the two sections.
It is always a pleasure for IBBY to welcome the creators of each year’s ICBD message to Bologna, where they present and read their work. Even more valuable is the chance to hear about the ideas behind their creations—a perspective that inspired IBBY Cyprus to propose and organize a round table on ICBD and how it can serve as a catalyst for year-round activities.
The discussion, “Inform, Inspire, Create: What Is International Children’s Book Day?”, took place at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair on 14 April. The panel featured Carolina Ballester, Executive Director of IBBY International; Elisabetta Lippolis, President of IBBY Italia and host section; Marloes Robijn, President of IBBY Netherlands and previous ICBD sponsor section; and Elena Perikleous, author of the 2026 message. I had the honour of moderating the session in my role as Vice‑President of IBBY Cyprus and coordinator of ICBD 2026 activities. The discussion highlighted ICBD’s role through concrete examples of successful initiatives, showing how children’s books can foster creativity, dialogue and collaboration worldwide. Elena Perikleous also shared the thinking behind her text, while the audience was introduced to the concept underlying Sandra Eleftheriou’s visual creation.
We hope this round table can become the seed for future sponsoring sections to organize similar events at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. Such events can offer each sponsor greater visibility and give creators the opportunity to speak about their work and inspirations. We have already met with the next sponsoring section, IBBY India, to share our experience and the joy of sponsoring the ICBD.
Our participation in this year’s Bologna Children’s Book Fair was, in many ways, historic for IBBY Cyprus, both in visibility and in the range of activities we were able to present. A more detailed report can be found here: https://cybby.org/bcbf2026report/cybby
At national level, our ICBD competition is still running, with results scheduled to be announced on 8 June and awards to be presented in September at our annual ceremony. The number of submissions has been remarkable, confirming how strongly children responded to the call to “Plant Stories and let the World Bloom.”
We are also planning a small booklet to document this year’s experience, featuring the wonderful texts submitted by writers who responded to our open call two years ago, whose work was not selected by the children, as well as images from activities organized by Cyprus IBBY, libraries, schools, and organizations around the world. It will also present a selection of ICBD 2026 activities from different countries. Click here to get an idea.
As you can see, we have worked consistently to increase the visibility of ICBD and to help people in Cyprus—and beyond—get to know IBBY a little better. Above all, we wanted to invite everyone to dream with us of a world that blooms, because we truly believe this can happen when we plant stories.
Oh, and one more thing we’re working on these days: we’re in the process of turning the ICBD 2026 poster into a Cyprus postage stamp — and that would be amazing, wouldn’t it?
More information: https://cybby.org/icbd2026en/cybby
More photos: https://www.facebook.com/cyprusibbycybby
