The first, Jasper and the Wish-Wish Bears: Chilly Day Out, from Singapore’s Flame of the Forest Publishing Pte Ltd, is targeted at four- to eight-year-olds.

Written and illustrated by Jane Walker, a British writer living in Singapore with her husband and three children plus a menagerie of pets, this little picture book features an adorable panda and his many species of bear and penguin friends.

Big illustrations, giant colourful words that jump out and child-like use of fonts and print all seek to attract the attention of the young and draw their eyes and ears to ‘new’ words.

The language is a mix of proper English and childish lisp – "dress up beary-warmly"; "goose-bumpy cold" – that will appeal to children of different age groups.

Within the simple tale of an invite by Pogo the polar bear for a play day on the chilly side of Wish-Wish Bear Island are nuggets of information on the animals, the environment and conservation served child-bite size.

Another picture book that also focuses on issues of conservation and environment, but in a more understated way, is The Wildlife Watcher (MPH Publishing) by Penang journalist, writer and illustrator Choong Kwee-kim.

The illustrations are simple but vivid water-colour etchings that mesh seamlessly with the prose steeped in rhyme that tells of the fears a young girl has of "a strange wind" that threatens to "sweep across the land and take everything away".

As the bulldozers encroach ever nearer in the name of progress, the little girl must somehow find the courage and strength to cope with the imminent changes and "stand up for what’s right".

Choong has artfully drawn a simple tale of the village chief’s daughter who worries about losing her home and village beside the swamp and the creatures who live in it.

Kudos to the author for another delightful story in verse. Her first picture book, Ah Fu the Rickshaw Coolie, was published last year also by MPH Publishing.