WickWick Launches Fourth Book in Its War and Peace Picture Book Series for Children
From a true Winter War story to a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan — Tuula Pere's "diplomacy of the heart"
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Helsinki, Finland, July 31, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As conflicts around the world push record numbers of families from their homes, a Finnish publisher’s War and Peace picture book series offers children a language for the hardest subjects: war, displacement, and the courage to remain kind.
The War and Peace picture book series by Finnish author Dr. Tuula Pere, published by WickWick Ltd: Lullaby of the Valley, Between the Walls, Raspberry Red, and Mother’s Bread Dough.
The series by two-time Outstanding Creator Awards Author of the Year Dr. Tuula Pere — Lullaby of the Valley, Between the Walls, Raspberry Red, and the newest addition, Mother’s Bread Dough — is published by Helsinki-based WickWick Ltd in multiple language editions. The books have traveled unusually far for picture books: the Arabic editions were launched with a reading session at a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan, and Between the Walls and Lullaby of the Valley were delivered through diplomatic channels to the leaders meeting at the 2018 Helsinki summit.
The series began at a breakfast table. Pere was in her own safe kitchen in Helsinki when she looked at the cover of Suomen Kuvalehti, Finland’s leading weekly magazine: a photograph of a small girl standing in ruins in the Middle East, under the headline “Only she is left.”
“The contrast was huge,” Pere says. “Tears began to flow from my eyes. I simply had to do something. Writing a children’s book about war and peace was my only means.”
That book became Lullaby of the Valley. Alongside the news, Pere drew on the wartime memories of older generations in Finland — and on what those memories revealed. “During significant challenges, individuals have often felt small and insecure,” she says. “On the other hand, a surprising force can be found in small people when we don’t even expect it. Even the most modest individuals have grown into people who make a difference. That is encouraging for us and makes us try and dare, even if the situation seems hopeless.”
Raspberry Red is based on a true story from Finland’s Winter War (1939–40), entrusted to the author by the woman who lived it as a child. “I find it extremely important to pass on the experiences of previous generations to younger people,” Pere says. “We must try to learn something from what has happened in the past. Maybe this would prevent the same mistakes from happening again.”
Between the Walls tells of two towns divided by a wall — and the children who find a way through. “I chose this topic for my children’s book because it’s good to introduce this kind of thinking about resolving disagreements as early as possible,” says Pere. “I call this approach ‘diplomacy of the heart.'”
The newest title, Mother’s Bread Dough, illustrated by Stefan Turk, brings the series’ themes to the experience of flight itself: when Leo and his mother must escape their home, they carry with them warm loaves of bread, a kneading bowl, and a jar of the family’s sourdough starter — a story about what families keep alive when everything else is left behind. The book took third place in the Best Children’s Book category of the Outstanding Creator Awards’ Spring 2023 contest.
The books’ themes have found institutional recognition beyond the children’s book world. At the Frankfurt Book Fair, WickWick was approached by the Muslim Council of Elders — the Abu Dhabi–based body chaired by the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, which promotes peace and reconciliation in the Muslim world, and which earlier that year had hosted the signing of the Document on Human Fraternity with Pope Francis during the first papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula. The council was looking for children’s books on war and peace. Its Secretary-General sat down at the stand and read all three titles through.
Within days, the two organizations had an agreement covering worldwide Arabic translation and publishing rights, and the Arabic editions appeared within weeks. The series was launched on 2 December 2019 at Mrajeeb Al Fhood, the Emirati-funded camp for Syrian refugees in northern Jordan, where books were distributed and dozens of children gathered for a reading of Raspberry Red — the story of a girl forced to flee her home when war breaks out, and her return once it ends.
Pere, who holds a Ph.D. in Law and began her career as a corporate lawyer before rising to Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications at major Finnish companies — including Alko Group and the forest-industry group Metsä-Serla — does not shy away from the series’ darker material. “I want to believe that we can cherish humanity, even if life is challenging at times,” she says. “I find it especially beautiful if a person respects the life of others, even if their own is under threat. It is probably the greatest gift you can give to another.”
The series belongs to WickWick’s broader multilingual program: the publisher’s flagship title, The Healer Cat, appears in bilingual editions across nearly 90 languages, while the War and Peace books are published in English, Finnish, and Swedish editions — Mother’s Bread Dough currently in English and Finnish — with further languages in preparation.
NOTES TO EDITORS
Illustrators: Andrea Alemanno (Lullaby of the Valley, Between the Walls), Georgia Stylou (Raspberry Red), Stefan Turk (Mother’s Bread Dough).
Origin: Pere began writing Lullaby of the Valley after seeing the cover of the Finnish weekly Suomen Kuvalehti — a photograph of a girl in ruins in the Middle East under the headline “Only she is left.” Quotes in this release are her own words, supplied by the author. A longer version of this account is available to journalists on request.
Raspberry Red is based on a true Winter War (1939–40) story, told to the author by the woman who experienced it as a child.
Arabic rights: In November 2019, WickWick Ltd sold worldwide Arabic translation and publishing rights for Between the Walls, Lullaby of the Valley, and Raspberry Red to Al Hokama Publishing FZ LLC, the publishing arm of the Muslim Council of Elders in Abu Dhabi.
Refugee camp launch: The Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported on 4 December 2019 that Al Hokama Publishing launched the three-book series with a reading session at the Mrajeeb Al Fhood refugee camp in northern Jordan. Books were distributed to children and Raspberry Red was read aloud to dozens of them. The launch date of 2 December was chosen to coincide with the 48th UAE National Day. Mrajeeb Al Fhood is the UAE-funded Emirati-Jordanian camp for Syrian refugees, roughly 20 km east of Zarqa, opened in 2013.
Background on the council: an independent body of Muslim scholars founded in 2014, chaired by the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, working to promote peace and counter extremism. In February 2019 it hosted Pope Francis in Abu Dhabi — the first visit by a pope to the Arabian Peninsula — where the Document on Human Fraternity was signed.
Awards: Dr. Tuula Pere is the first two-time Author of the Year in Outstanding Creator Awards history. In the Spring 2023 contest, Between the Walls took second place and Mother’s Bread Dough third place in the Best Children’s Book category.
Story angles: children’s books as peace education; a true Winter War childhood story retold for today’s children; picture books reaching children in refugee camps; food and family traditions as a child’s anchor in displacement.
Cover images and interior spreads available on request.
Dr. Tuula Pere, two-time Outstanding Creator Awards Author of the Year, began writing the series after seeing a news photograph of a girl standing in ruins.
About WickWick
WickWick Ltd is a Helsinki-based children’s book publisher founded by author Dr. Tuula Pere and CEO Pekka Pere. Its multilingual catalog of picture books and early readers is produced through a curated network of more than 200 freelance translators, including bilingual editions of its flagship title in nearly 90 languages. More at https://wickwick.fi.
Press Inquiries
Pekka Pere, CEO
pekka [at] pere.fi
+358407675100
https://wickwick.fi
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00340 Helsinki
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