The Helsinki Rotary Club and the publishing house Werner Söderström Ltd (WSOY) have joined together to support the development of children’s reading skills by donating a copy of Finnish author Timo Parvela’s newly published children’s book Ystäväni Vakko/Min vän Vacke to all Year 4 students in Helsinki.
“We wanted to do something that would have a significant local and social impact to mark our centenary, so we decided, in collaboration with WSOY, to support the reading skills of children in Helsinki with this book donation,” said Kalle Virtapohja, the 2026-2027 President of the Helsinki Rotary Club.
The book donation is aimed at Year 4 students, as, according to the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), the proportion of 10-year-old Finnish children with poor reading skills has doubled over the last decade, while the share of those with very low reading skills has doubled over the last five years. All Year 4 pupils in Helsinki’s schools will receive the book through their schools in early October.
“Promoting literacy among children and young people is one of Helsinki’s key objectives. Every young person in Helsinki should acquire the level of literacy needed to succeed in their further studies and life during their time in the school system. That is why we have increased the amount of study hours devoted to the language of instruction and the reading of literature in the school day. Our goal is to make Helsinki a literacy capital,” said Helsinki Mayor Daniel Sazonov.
Donated book tells story of an evacuation journey from a child’s perspective
The book to be donated to Year 4 pupils in Helsinki is Ystäväni Vakko (“My Friend Vakko”), published by Tammi Publishers, which tells the story of a boy named Veikko and his evacuation journey.
“As the child of an evacuee himself, the book’s author Timo Parvela felt that children exposed to war would be in need of words of explanation, reassurance and comfort through books as well.” To meet this need, he wrote the book Ystäväni Vakko, which tells the story of a boy named Veikko’s journey as an evacuee. The story is set during the wars of the 1940s, but it is also highly relevant in today’s world. A set of educational resources has also been developed to explore the book’s themes and the questions that children may be wondering about,” explained Jenni Haukio, WSOY’s Director of Corporate Social Responsibility.
The book is illustrated by Pasi Pitkänen. The Swedish translation of the book, Min vän Vacke, was translated by Marjut Hökfelt and published by Bonnier Carlsen.
The “Tee kirjasta kaverisi (Make a Book Your Friend)” project, a collaboration between the Helsinki Rotary Club and the publisher WSOY, supports the achievement of Helsinki’s strategic literacy goals and fosters cooperation across the public, private and third sectors. In addition to the book donation, the project will be showcased at the Helsinki Book Fair, arrange a “Kirjakavereita (Book Buddies)” celebration for children in November, and will assess the impact of the book donations.