Matthew and the Thirsty Sun

By Angeline Khoo and How San Khoo

The young reader learns about such values as being sensitive to others, lending a helping hand, apologising for being thoughtless, making amends, and sharing happiness through this story about the water cycle. The main character, Matthew, who is always curious about what is going on around him, noticed one day that the leaves and flowers near the pool outside his home were not happy. After finding out that they were thirsty because they were not having enough water to drink, Matthew called out to Sun to stop drinking so much water. With the help of Wind and Cloud, they were able to bring rain to the thirsty plants.
One reviewer who is a developmental psychologist (Dr. Albert Liau) has this to say, Matthew and the Thirsty Sun is such a lovely story. It is written in a poetic and engaging style that young children would really enjoy. The wonderful story incorporates interesting lessons on science and geography as well as important moral lessons on caring for others and nature. The colourful illustrations also bring the characters, such as the sun, the leaves, and the flowers, to life. A great story to be retold many times to young children!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Singapore
• Release date: Oct 8, 2015
• ISBN: 9781482853810

Angeline Khoo

Angeline Khoo, PhD, a.k.a. Granny to Matthew, retired in 2015 as associate professor at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Apart from her many academic papers, she has given numerous talks on children and adolescents’ use of the Internet and video gaming issues. The social psychologist and teacher-educator maintains a deep interest in children’s social and emotional growth and fervently believes that there are boundless opportunities to inculcate values and character education. She now devotes much time to playing with and reading to her toddler grandson—the inspiration behind her new journey of writing stories for young children. How San Khoo, PhD, has been happily married to Angeline for nearly forty years. The retiree is Gramps to Matthew. He has been a journalist, civil servant, and think-tank academic. He has written extensively on an eclectic range of subjects, from the nuclear balance of power to Asia-Pacific regional security to less weighty matters, such as pointing out the quirky and lighter side of English language usage. He writes a blog (onthesannyside.blogspot.com). This present and very satisfying collaboration with Angeline is his first venture into writing for young children. Together, they have published two other children’s books with Partridge, “Matthew and the Thirsty Sun” and “Matthew’s Stacking Cups.”

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