Dubolsinho is a Brazilian independent publishing house founded in 2000 by Sebastião Nunes in Sabará, Minas Gerais. Specialising in children’s and juvenile literature, it has published over 100 titles, run community literacy programs reaching 1,700 students, and represented Brazil at the Frankfurt Book Fair. It remains one of the most culturally significant micro-publishers in the Minas Gerais region.
What Is Dubolsinho?
When people search for “Dubolsinho” in English, they are often met with vague content describing a so-called viral dance trend. That framing is inaccurate. Dubolsinho is a real editorial project — a publishing house located in the centre of Sabará, in the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Founded in 2000, Editora Dubolsinho specialises in quality literary publications for children and young adults. It is a private, independent venture — not backed by large publishing conglomerates — and it has been guided since day one by a single creative vision: bring high-quality storytelling to young Brazilian readers, with no compromise on literary or graphic standards.
The name “Dubolsinho” is a playful Portuguese coinage. It reflects the spirit of the house — something small, personal, and distinctly Brazilian.
The Founder: Sebastião Nunes
Editora Dubolsinho was created by Sebastião Nunes, a writer, editor, and visual artist. Nunes is not a corporate publisher. He is a poet and cultural figure whose entry into publishing came from a genuine belief in the power of literature for young people.
Before founding the publishing house, Nunes worked in cinema. In 2000, he channelled that visual and narrative sensibility into a new project — Editora Dubolsinho — with a focus on aesthetic and graphic quality for young readers.
From Home to a Cultural Space
In the early years, Nunes ran all publishing activities from his own home. It was only about three years before the house’s 15th anniversary that Dubolsinho moved into an independent warehouse space in Sabará’s town centre. That physical expansion marked a turning point — the project had grown from a personal endeavour into a genuine cultural institution.
His editorial philosophy has been consistently direct: “The Dubolsinho has a history that values literary quality. We have never charged to publish any work and only edit those we truly believe in,” Nunes has said.
The Publishing Catalogue: What Dubolsinho Publishes
By the time of its 15th anniversary, Dubolsinho had published approximately 100 titles in children’s and juvenile literature. The catalogue spans poetry, fiction, narrative non-fiction, and illustrated books — all aimed at building genuine reading habits in young Brazilians.
Notable Authors and Titles
Several well-regarded Brazilian writers have published with Dubolsinho:
- Humberto Werneck, the journalist, chronicler, and writer, published his essay collection O Espalhador de Passarinhos with Dubolsinho in 2010.
- Maria Cláudia Siqueira Garcia — her novel A menina, o monge e o relógio was adopted as required reading for eighth-grade students at Colégio Santa Mônica in Rio de Janeiro.
- Fabrício Marques — author of O Pequeno Livro dos Recordes, which was featured in Revista Ciência Hoje das Crianças.
- Romério Rômulo — poet whose work Ah, Se Eu Fosse Maradona! was published in both digital and print editions by Dubolsinho.
- Oscar Bessi Filho and Fernando Alsandálio — authors who contributed to multiple titles across the Dubolsinho imprint.
Aaatchim! Editorial and Dubolso Digital
In 2012, Nunes founded a sister imprint called Aaatchim! Editorial. It was created to diversify the catalogue beyond Dubolsinho’s established formats, offering books with different graphic design and presentation — not necessarily more sophisticated, but genuinely different.
Around the same time, the house developed Dubolso Digital, its e-book arm, allowing titles to reach readers through platforms like IBA (iba.com.br) alongside its traditional print distribution through major Brazilian booksellers, including Saraiva, Livraria Cultura, and Travessa.
The Lerês Project: Reading as a Social Mission
Dubolsinho’s work was never limited to publishing books. It launched the Lerês project in 2009 — a literacy and reading promotion program covering public schools in the municipality of Sabará, reaching approximately 1,700 students in their early literacy stages.
The project achieved strong adoption in the municipal school network and distributed prize money to students for the best literary work. It became a model for how a small independent publisher could extend its mission into the community — not just producing books, but actively building the audience for them.
A Milestone Year and Its Aftermath
The year 2012 was Dubolsinho’s commercial high point. In that single year, the publisher sold more than 100,000 copies — primarily through government procurement programs at the federal level, other Brazilian states, and the city of Belo Horizonte.
The Government Procurement Challenge
That success, however, rested on a fragile foundation.
From 2013 onward, the primary source of revenue — government book purchases — dropped sharply. Programs like the Plano Nacional Biblioteca de Escolas (PNBE), which had sustained the publisher’s growth, were suspended or delayed. “The Dubolsinho was taking off like an aeroplane. But suddenly it had to stop,” Nunes described.
This experience was not unique to Dubolsinho. Micro and small publishers across Brazil faced enormous pressure from large national and foreign publishing groups, competing for a reading public that remained hesitant and under-stimulated. Government purchases accounted for a significant share of total acquisitions of educational and literary books in Brazil. When those contracts dried up, smaller publishers had no comparable fallback.
By 2015, Nunes had 16 completed books and four more in production, all waiting for resources to be finalised.
International Recognition
Despite its modest size, Dubolsinho earned a place on the international publishing map. The publisher was included in the Brazilian Publishers catalogue for the 2013 Frankfurt Book Fair — the year Brazil was the event’s guest of honour. Participation in Frankfurt represented a significant step for any Brazilian independent publisher, signalling the legitimacy and literary seriousness of the house’s catalogue.
Resilience: Crowdfunding and Carrying On
Rather than quietly close, Nunes responded to the post-2013 financial pressure with direct action. He launched a crowdfunding campaign on the Kickante platform, returning to the grassroots approach that had defined the publisher’s origins. The goal was to fund the publication of the books already completed and waiting.
Nunes expressed confidence: “I think we will achieve this goal. People tend to contribute more as the deadline approaches,” he noted. The Lerês project, despite the financial strain, continued into its fourth edition.
Why Dubolsinho Still Matters in 2026
Editora Dubolsinho is a case study in what independent publishing can look like when it is driven by conviction rather than capital. Sebastião Nunes built a catalogue of over 100 titles without charging authors a single real, sustained a community literacy program for years, published writers who went on to be adopted in school curricula, and represented Brazil at one of the world’s most important book fairs — all from a warehouse in a mid-sized town in Minas Gerais.
The story of Dubolsinho also reflects wider truths about the Brazilian book market: the dependence of small publishers on government programs, the precariousness of micro-press economics, and the personal dedication required to keep literary culture alive outside major urban centres.
As of 2026, the detailed current operational status requires direct verification. But the editorial legacy is documented, real, and worth understanding accurately — especially given the volume of inaccurate content that currently misrepresents this name online.
FAQs
What is Editora Dubolsinho?
Editora Dubolsinho is an independent Brazilian publishing house founded in 2000 by Sebastião Nunes in Sabará, Minas Gerais. It specialises in children’s and juvenile literature and has published over 100 titles.
Who founded Dubolsinho?
Sebastião Nunes — a Brazilian writer, visual artist, and editor — founded Dubolsinho in 2000. He ran operations from his home before moving to a dedicated space in Sabará’s town centre.
What is the Lerês project?
Lerês is a community reading promotion program created by Editora Dubolsinho, launched in 2009. It covered public schools in Sabará and reached approximately 1,700 students in early literacy stages, distributing recognition and prizes for the best student work.
