Helsinki, Finland, July 31, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A children's publisher run by two people from Helsinki has published the same picture book in 101 languages — and is now reissuing it as bilingual editions, pairing English with each of the other hundred.
Eight of the 33 bilingual editions of The Healer Cat by Tuula Pere, published by WickWick.
The Healer Cat, by Dr. Tuula Pere, is available in 101 single-language editions covering the mother tongues of more than 95 percent of the world's children. Thirty-three bilingual English-paired editions of the title have been published to date; the remaining 67 are in the publishing process and are expected by the end of 2026. Across six titles, WickWick has 115 bilingual editions in print: 76 pairing English with a second language, and 39 pairing Finnish.
The same approach is already running from Finnish, and Swedish is next. By the end of 2026 WickWick expects at least 200 bilingual editions in print, including 100 English-paired and more than 50 Finnish-paired and more than 50 Swedish-paired editions of The Healer Cat, alongside further editions of Friends and Rivals and other titles. The translations these editions require are already finished; the remaining work is production. German, Arabic, and Persian are under consideration as further anchor languages.
The economics of the format favor scale. The first bilingual edition of any title is the expensive one, because the layout has to be rebuilt to carry two languages at once; each additional language pair then costs roughly a tenth of the first. For every title now in the bilingual program that groundwork is already complete, and the remaining work is adding languages to a layout that exists. That ratio, rather than translation, is what sets the pace.
"The most important thing is to connect with my readers' minds," says Pere, who co-founded the company. "I don't try to please anybody; I just honestly write for the benefit of children."
Behind the program sits a deliberate rejection of the standard model. Rather than selling foreign rights and hoping local publishers pick up each title, WickWick translates and publishes its own catalog directly, through a network of more than 200 individually curated freelance translators assembled one by one since 2010. Every edition is translated by a person, not a machine — which is why the catalog took fifteen years to build.
"The industry model says a small publisher licenses rights and hopes," said Pekka Pere, WickWick's CEO and co-founder. "We decided instead to become the infrastructure ourselves. Obviously, machine translation would have got us to a hundred languages faster. With human translators it took us fifteen years, and that is the point."
The bilingual program is built on a catalog of original work. WickWick has published more than 80 original English-language titles by Pere, many of them award-winning, and has had them translated into a wide range of languages through its translator network. Each bilingual edition pairs one English original with one of those translations. The Healer Cat came first, followed by Friends and Rivals, with further titles in progress.
The English catalog includes the Colin the Crab and Axel and Ava early reader series and the War and Peace picture books, which have reached readers from refugee education programs to diplomatic settings.
Tuula Pere is the first author in Outstanding Creator Awards history to be named Author of the Year twice. Her books have continued collecting honors since, with The Fox and the Garbage War taking first place in its category in the Spring 2026 contest.
Her path to children's literature is itself unconventional: a Ph.D. in Law from the University of Helsinki and a career that rose from corporate lawyer to Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications at major Finnish companies preceded her first storybook.
"I believe in the power of words," she has said of her mission. "I want to write about social and political problems in a way that works for children."
WickWick's bilingual editions serve immigrant and diaspora families, language learners, and international schools. The publisher presents its catalog at the Bologna Children's Book Fair and Frankfurt Book Fair.
Notes to Editors
- The Healer Cat is published in 101 languages, English included.
- A bilingual edition presents two languages in one book. Of The Healer Cat, 33 English-paired editions are published to date and 67 are in the publishing process.
- Bilingual editions in print, by title: The Healer Cat 33 (33 English-paired); Scared to Swim 21 (11 English, 10 Finnish); Dread in the Dark 21 (11 English, 10 Finnish); Friends and Rivals 21 (11 English, 10 Finnish); Traveling Companions 15 (8 English, 7 Finnish); The Only Crow 4 (2 English, 2 Finnish). Total 115 editions across six titles — 76 English-paired, 39 Finnish-paired.
- Production economics: the first bilingual edition of a title requires a full layout rebuild to accommodate two languages; each additional language pair costs roughly one-tenth of the first. Layouts for all six titles currently in the bilingual program are complete, so remaining editions require only the insertion of a further language. The 200 figure is a conservative floor rather than a ceiling.
- Target by the end of 2026: at least 200 bilingual editions in total — 100 English-paired, more than 50 Finnish-paired and more than 50 Swedish-paired editions of The Healer Cat, plus English-paired editions of Friends and Rivals and further titles as production allows.
- All translations required for the 2026 targets are already complete. The publication schedule is set by production capacity, not by translation.
- German, Arabic, and Persian are under consideration as further anchor languages.
- Original catalog: more than 80 English-language titles by Tuula Pere, with several more due during 2026.
- Translator network built since 2010: more than 200 professional translators, recruited and vetted individually. All editions are human-translated.
- Recognition: WickWick titles have been honored by the Outstanding Creator Awards, Literary Titan, Readers' Favorite (5-star reviews), and Maincrest Media.
- Tuula Pere is the first two-time Author of the Year in Outstanding Creator Awards history.
- The Pearl series was selected for IBBY's 2021 Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities list.
- Story angles: human translation at scale in the age of machine translation; micro-publisher vs. global rights model; lawyer-turned-award-winning author; bilingual books and immigrant family literacy.
- High-resolution covers, interior spreads, and author photos available on request.
Dr. Tuula Pere, co-founder of WickWick and the first two-time Author of the Year in Outstanding Creator Awards history.
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 human translators. The flagship title, The Healer Cat, is published in 101 languages, with bilingual editions of that title available in 33 language pairs and more in production. More at https://wickwick.fi.
Press Inquiries
Pekka Pere
pekka [at] pere.fi
+358407675100
https://wickwick.fi
Kuusiniementie 21 D
00340 Helsinki
Finlsnd
