Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet: 1

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I really liked this book as it felt unique compared to other children's books I have read. This was in terms of it being informally written, being in 1st person and the use of different texts and fonts to reflect the characters feelings. The text and font also highlighted words that needed more emphasis and exaggeration. I also liked the fact that this book promotes diversity about a Muslim boy and is family but is also very informative about their religion and traditions. Therefore, I think this would be a great book to teach children about this religion in the classroom as it is a fun read and there are parts in the story that explain the relgion in very simplistic ways in an informal manner for children to understand. Planet Omar can link to stories about friendship and overcoming bullies, such as Cloud Busting. There is also links to books about acceptance of others such as Skellig by David Almond, Beegu by Alexis Deacon and Welcome to Our World by Moira Butterfield. There is also a link to The Twits by Ronald Dahl as Omar believes that people with ugly thoughts are ugly people and that appearance isn’t the key to being a good person. Ronald Dahl writes “If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely”. At the beginning of this book, the reader is given some information about each member of Omar's family and a little illustration of them which I thought was a really good idea because the reader then instantly gets an idea of Omar's life. The Library's buildings remain fully open but some services are limited, including access to collection items. We're Leuke illustratie, net zoals het vorige boek vond ik het een leuke stijl en het past goed bij het boek.

Omar decides he wants to try and fast with his family (on the weekends) but finds it too hard. Yet he was able to complete a fast the following weekend. Using a text in this way adds value and purpose by giving children the opportunity to express their possible experiences and feelings on these topics. It may also give children something to relate to and aspire from. Furthermore, this text would lend itself well to many of the topics within the PSHE curriculum. Het boek is ook heerlijk geillustreerd en er waren echt illustraties op bijna elke pagina, klein of groot. But when the mosque he and his family regularly visit is in danger of closing down, Omar decides that his money needs to go towards saving the mosque. The only problem is he is a few thousand pounds short of the total the mosque needs. Can Omar and his friends raise the funds needed to save the mosque? Previously published as 'The Muslims', this was the winner of the Little Rebels Award in June 2018. The text has been revised, expanded with new scenes and re-illustrated. About This Edition ISBN:This book opens up a cross curricular link to DT as quite frequently, Omar talks about the types of food that he eats which are native to his culture. As a class, children can find some of these recipes thatOmar has talked about and make them theirselves so children can experience food from different cultures and religions which they might not have tried otherwise. One day after school, Charlie comes over to Omar’s house for dinner and once again Mrs Rodgers is overheard referring to her neighbours as ‘the Muslims’ in a negative manner. This book also approaches issues such as bullying and prejudice as well as true friendship and forgiveness. These themes would be great PSHE topics to discuss with the children, relating to the book as well as personal experiences. I have to be honest, upon seeing the cover of this book I definitely wasn't pulled towards reading it. It looked too -comic like' for me. However, as the saying goes 'don't judge a book by it's cover', well that couldn't be more true in this case. I ended up loving it!! Firstly, the book is written in first person from the POV of Omar, a young muslim boy who has had to leave his old life behind and come and start a new one in England. I like this style of writing because it is almost childlike and very simplistic; therefore making it so much easier and accessible for any child to relate too. My favourite parts of the book were when Omar educated us as readers about his family traditions as Muslim's such as Ramadan and fasting and the different types of prayer. I think this would be a great book to use as a cross curricular link between RE and literacy, and I cannot wait to use it in my classroom.

As a reader I like how the author chose to present some of the words as illustrations as this made it easier to follow and was also engaging. Also I like how the author has explained many of the key words in a child friendly manned which would help both children and teachers to understand their meanings and read them within context.In the original Planet Omar, Zanib Mian embedded into the story details and explanations about British-Pakistani and British Muslim life within a frankly gorgeous and loving family. This book similarly explores concepts to celebrate diversity with young British Pakistani and Muslim children recognising themselves in Omar’s family and the way they have both British and Pakistani-Muslim elements In their debut, Mian and Mafaridik create a relatable and hilarious story . . . Exploding with personality and imagination, Omar is an easy character to love.”— Booklist, starred review The playful text is bolstered with illustrations throughout that show off [Omar’s] creativity and imagination. A great #OwnVoices story for children to learn more about connection and empathy.” —S chool Library Journal Wildly imaginative Omar’s free-association narrative, laced with expressive hand lettering and Mafaridik’s playfully exaggerated line art, remains chipper and uplifting.”– Publishers Weekly There’s a school trip to the science museum, which Omar’s parents are thrilled about! Except, Omar ends up in a group with Daniel, not Charlie. Whilst on the London Underground the pair lose the rest of their class. Which unexpectedly leads to Daniel bursting into tears and wetting himself. Omar takes charge and gets the pair to Baker Street where he ends up praying to Allah for help. As it happens the pair end up at a Mosque where they manage to get help. Daniel is so grateful.

Omar is like any other child - he loves playing with his mates, he argues with his siblings and just wants to have fun! The book captures the trials and tribulations of being a child perfectly and shows that regardless of race and religion children are all very much alike. Verder best leuk om te lezen en ik vind het ook nog steeds leuk dat Omar en zijn familie moslim zijn en we goed zien hoe het voor hen is (vooral het jongste broertje heeft het moeilijk met halal, maar dat is logisch hij is nog zo jong). Ik vond het leuk om te lezen over alle lekkere gerechten die moeder maakt. Het boek begint als de familie van Omar net is verhuisd naar een nieuw huis en dit helaas ook een nieuwe school betekent. Voor geen enkel kind leuk, maar Omar noemt zichzelf ook nog eens een ware “probleemmagneet”, want overal waar hij gaat trekt hij problemen aan. Maar of dat altijd de schuld van Omar is? A lot of Pakistani food is mentioned throughout the story so if the reader has some idea of what these foods are it would help them to visualise what is being discussed (however, taste testing would make a fun lesson!) I think most children would be able to make some connection with this book from their home life, as it talks about the use of modern technology, Xbox and iPhones, which most children have heard about. I think this book would be good for children in upper KS2 and could help them and understand the transition between schools and it may help them feel less nervous about their transition to secondary school.I would recommend this book as an English class read. The book is full of different themes that the class teacher can explore with the children. I think the text is useful to teach children about the power of love and the influence our siblings, families, and friends have on us. The teacher can use the main character (Omar) to help children explore Omar’s imaginative world and lifestyle. The class teacher may focus on the importance of Omar creating an imaginative world and having the support of his family to help him manage with difficult or scary situations he experiences (moving house, being bullying, getting lost, etc). From reading the book the class teacher may help the children to understand the importance of sharing their problems with responsible adults they trust. The teacher can also explore with their class the Muslim religion and help the children to understand the different faiths, festivals and traditions. Use the example where Omar’s feeling frightened, nervous, or worried. The class teacher will encourage the children to write a diary entry to express the feelings of Omar’s imaginative world with the dragon (H20) helping him to overcome these feelings. The children could think about why the dragon is important to Omar and how it supports his thoughts and feelings Our Guest Editor, Cressida Cowell said, "this is a very funny, illustrated series which has characters with heart who you really care about. I’d say if you’re a fan of Wimpy Kid and Tom Gates, you’d like this series…" As an adult, it has highlighted how much more there is to learn about all the wonderful people on this earth. Planet Omar has taught me some of the key traditions in Islam and inspired me to research further. Patterns: The Muslim traditions, the imaginary dragon popping into his head when he is in trouble as it helps to keep him calm.

The story: Omar has just moved to a new school and is kind of afraid that the teacher and the kids in his new class won't like him (it's already clear that the mean lady next door, Mrs. Rogers, doesn't.) It doesn't take long to find out that things aren't as bad as he expected, except for Daniel, who's much WORSE than he expected. It takes Omar and Daniel's getting lost on the subway, being chased by a homeless guy who just might be a zombie, and finally being saved by a man at the mosque, for both kids to come to a better understanding of who can become a friend. Omar is hands down one of the best characters I've ever read and I love that I get to share his stories with my class. We laugh together at the funny bits, my Muslim children relate to things Omar shares about his religion and share their own stories, my non-Muslim children learn new information and respectfully ask questions, we all admire Omar's courage and kindness. He is such a positive and relatable role model for my students. This book could be used throughout the curriculum as a class text, most likely in key stage 2 due to the language used and being able to relate to the character due to age. For instance, due to the science mentioned in the book, this can be linked to science lessons, especially about experiments or genes and DNA. This could also be used in art lessons to focus on the illustrator and her style of drawing. Literacy and Art could be linked if children were to write their own stories in the style of this book using the different fonts for instance. These are just some ideas of how the book can be used in school however there are many other lessons and areas of the curriculum that it could be used in. Omar’s funny, relatable narrative is the perfect answer to the call for both mirrors and windows to fill bookshelves with diverse stories. Likes: I really like how their are lots of metaphors and similies used by Omar as this is what makes him have such a great imagination. It is informative as well as humorous so it is a fun way to learn about Islam.It would be good for the reader to have some knowledge of the Muslim faith, including holidays such as Ramadan and Eid. However, the book is very informative about some of these areas and is explained in a child friendly way. It would be a good text to read alongside learning about Muslim festivals.