Curious tots (three to five)

Dear Greenpeace Author: Simon James Publisher: Walker Books

WITH the Rainbow Warrior, the iconic ship of global environmental organisation Greenpeace docked in Port Klang over the weekend on a goodwill mission to raise awareness on environmental issues, it could be fun to look into this read.

In this “enchanting ecological fantasy”, a little girl is worried that a whale she finds living in her garden pond is unhappy. Emily writes to Greenpeace, who, though offering the best of advice, insists that it is impossible for a whale to live in a pond.

(Today is the last day of the Rainbow

Warrior’s visit.)

Ten Things I Can Do To Help My World Author: Melanie Walsh

THIS book gives young children simple strategies they can incorporate into their daily lives to protect the planet, like turning off the lights when leaving a room, turning off the television properly, using both sides of their drawing paper, and turning off the tap when brushing their teeth.

It sends an important message to children that even small changes in our lifestyles can make a big difference.

Why Don’t I Look Like You? Authors: Abyan Junus-Nishizawa & Farah Landemaine

Illustrator: Cecilia Hidayat

Publisher: Asiana Chic Enterprise

OUR Malayan tapirs are not media darlings the way pandas and even zebras are, yet they are also endangered animals that deserve to be highlighted (and not just on World Tapir Day, April 27). Their declining numbers due to vehicular accidents, logging, commercial agriculture and expanding farms has largely gone unnoticed. The Department of Wildlife and National Parks (better known by its Malay acronym, Perhilitan) shares that there are now only between 1,000 and 1,500 tapirs remaining in our forests.

This picture book by local authors about a little tapir called Timo who looks different from his mother is a fun way to seed a good first conversation on animal conservation.