Artistic reunions after decades apart can be nerve-racking for fans. What if your idols have lost their spark? Happily, devotees of We’re Going on a Bear Hunt can rest easy: the duo behind the 1989 hit that sold over 14m copies worldwide, spawning TV and theatre adaptations and a sculpture trail, are back together; and the new output is a joy.

While author Michael Rosen and illustrator Helen Oxenbury have independently enjoyed successful careers since introducing their bear and the five kids who squelched through the countryside to find it, Oh Dear, Look What I Got! (Walker, 11 Sept) is further evidence that they were born to work together. Rosen’s witty verse recounts a simple shopping trip gone wrong – a child goes off to buy a carrot and gets given a parrot, a goat instead of a coat and so on – while Oxenbury’s expressive characters gasp and grin through the chaos. The cover design neatly echoes that of Bear Hunt with the book’s cast strutting across it, and the bright red of both the parrot and the child’s jacket, nattily cinched in with a belt, pop beautifully. But this is no sequel (though a bear does feature) – rather a slightly simpler tale with a fun twist, and another catchy (and very relatable) refrain: “Oh dear, look what I got! Do I want that? No I do not!”

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I suspect Rosen would approve of the excellent wordplay in Buffalo Fluffalo (Puffin, 28 Aug), about a grumpy beast with a furry, voluminous coat who rebuffs all attempts at friendship from his fellow animals: “I’m the Buffalo Fluffalo – I heave and I huffalo. Leave me alone because I’ve had enuffalo!” The creation of American Emmy-nominated comedy writer Bess Kalb, Fluffalo snarls his way through a landscape brought to life by illustrator Erin Kraan, its craggy rocks and meadow flowers as lovingly textured as the buffalo’s curls. But when a huge downpour flattens his fur, the animals persuade Fluffalo to drop the tough guy act. Understandably already a bestseller in the US, I have a few minor quibbles with the tale, namely whether the buffalo is too hostile to convincingly attract such ardent friends, and, in turn, whether their initial mocking of the rain-sodden buffalo is a bit mean. However, the verse is so delightfully daft that it won me over.

Meanwhile, in Louise Greig’s glorious Bear Heart (Flying Eye, 11 Sept), we meet Earnest, a bear with a heart so full that when he encounters a lonely lion “the colour of buttercups” he finds he can only make space for him by discarding the other things he cherishes. Befittingly for a book about how love can make us braver and stronger, Hoang Giang’s illustrations glow magnificently: her sunset-coloured depiction of Earnest surrounded by his favourite things, from blueberries to the perfect tree, is one of the most gorgeous picture book spreads I’ve seen all year.

In nonfiction, there are yet more animals to be admired with Tom Palmer’s War Dog (Scholastic). The story of Judy, a pointer who was commended for extraordinary bravery during the second world war, it has warm illustrations by Carolina Rabei and an endnote remembering other heroic real-life animals.

Author-illustrator Nikkolas Smith travels even further back to focus on the origin story of humans in The History of We (Oneworld, 25 Sept), which combines richly detailed brushwork and poetic prose to paint a picture of how human life began in Africa. Smith describes himself as an “artivist” who uses art for social change, and this epic picture book skilfully illuminates a key moment in our collective history that is too often overlooked.

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Illustrations by Helen Oxenbury and Erin Kraan