Belgium is the guest of honour at the Taipei International Book Exhibition, the largest book fair in Asia, which begins on 1 February. A Belgian pavilion will feature local authors, books and 22 publishers, and the fair is using the Smurfs as a theme on its signs and promotional materials. The Brussels-based, Astrid Lindgren award-winning children’s book illustrator Kitty Crowther will make an appearance at the fair. www.tibe.org.tw

Boek.be is looking for people to make up the “readers’ jury” for this year’s Gouden Boekenuil, or Golden Book Owl, awards. Head of the jury is singer Bent Van Looy of Das Pop. Members of the public have to read five books by the end of April and offer their opinion. Interested parties can sign up for the jury on the website. www.boek.be

Flemish director Fien Troch’s new movie Kid, which received a special mention from the jury at the Flanders International Film Festival last autumn and this month screened at the Palm Springs Film Festival, opens this week across Flanders and Brussels. The film follows the lives of young boys as their single mother struggles to raise them in the Flemish countryside (photo). Kid completes a trilogy about children that includes 2005’s Een ander zijn geluk (Someone Else’s Happiness) and 2008’s Unspoken. www.kid-film.be