Matthew and the Horrid Haze

About the Book

Matthew, like other young children, loves to play outdoors. But when the region’s annual haze—pollutive smog at its worst—comes around, Matthew is forced to stay indoors. Ever curious, he asks, “Why can’t I see the sky?” In this delightful children’s story, Wind blames the burning Trees in the forests. Trees, in turn, blame the tinderbox-like Peat soil, which in turn points the finger at Man, who says he needs fertile soil to grow his crops. Finally, Matthew asks, “How can we get back clearer days?” The included suggested questions enable adults to use the storyline to help children find out more and to appreciate the urgency of sustaining this precious Earth. One reviewer says (Ms Felicia Choon, a primary school teacher), “I wished that the children who read this book can be empowered with the knowledge that they make a difference in their own small ways. If I were to read this book in class, it would definitely pathed its way into a lengthy discussion on what we can do here to help with the situation there.” This is the third book in the Matthew series. The other two, also published by Partridge, are “Matthew and the Thirsty Sun” and “Matthew’s Stacking Cups.”

About the Author

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.”