Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet: 1

Product Information

This book follows a young Muslim boy called Omar. Him and his family have just moved house as his mum has just gotten her dream job. As a result of this, he has to start a new school and this made him very nervous as he thought his new teacher might be an alien. As you read this book, you follow the everyday life of Omar and you also go through the struggles that he is encountering at school, specifically with a young boy called Daniel. However, later on in the book when Omar and Daniel get lost, they forget all of their differences and join together to try and find the rest of their class. |We komen er ook achter waar de titel op slaat, en ik moest wel lachen. Omar toch. Wat een problemenmagneet ben je!

Young readers will have great fun on planet Omar! Our hero's tales of everyday life with his family and at school will keep everyone amused. Omar is worried because the family have just moved house - will he make friends at school? He does of course, but Daniel the school bully seems to have it in for him. A school trip to the Science Museum sees the two of them lost in London, but Omar knows just what to do and in the process realises that maybe he'd got Daniel wrong. The real pleasure of this book is Omar - his imagination, the pleasure he finds in ordinary things, his infectious zest for life make this irresistible reading. The book also offers insight into the life of an ordinary Muslim family, something we don't often get, and indeed, Zanib Mian has said that she wrote the book to counter negative stereotypes of Muslims. It's another reason to recommend this book, and I'm already looking forward to a new story and a return to Planet Omar. 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…" So give me all those troublesome boy books. Give me more of them even! Give me differently abled troublesome boys. Give me (please please give me) a troublesome transgender boy who gets into all kinds of mischief. Give me Native American boys. Give me Asian American boys. Give me boys with stutters and bald boys and army brats and all the different kinds of troublesome boys that are out there. To say nothing of equally troublesome girls! Omar is doing his part, but he can’t do it alone. If we want to show our child readers the wide, wonderful, wild world out there in all its myriad forms, we need as many different perspectives as we can find. And until that happens, let’s hand Omar to as many kinds as we can name. Because as far as I’m concerned, funny books that also prove to be smart and socially conscious (not to mention anti-racist) might help us get out of the mess this world is in. Investigate other chapter books with sketchy pictures, such as Planet Omar Adventure and Horrid Henry books. Think about the similarities and differences between the books are the themes the same.

Zanib Mian Press Reviews

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? 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 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. Another brilliant read from Zanib Mian. Omar and his Muslim family are very likeable characters and are typical of any other family. As with the first book, It has all of the drama and hilarity of everyday family life. It is fantastic that Muslim children have a character in Omar that they can relate to. Mian helps non-Muslims understand Muslim daily life and there are references to daily rituals including visits to the mosque, explanations about Halal foods, mentions of Allah and plenty of biriyani. 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.

My parents decided it would be a good idea to move house AND move me to a new school at the same time. As if I didn't have a hard enough time staying out of trouble at home, now I've also got to try and make new friends. 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. Reading this book put such a massive smile on my face. I'm not sure I can quite convey in words how perfect this series of books is. All of these adventures involve Omar being amazingly brave and kind and it just makes me heart melt. Added to this he has such an upbeat and imaginative way of looking at the world that it's just so much fun to be in his head. The illustrations and different fonts used throughout the book bring the pictures that the words create to life in hilarious ways. 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. Ik vond het alleen heel jammer dat wederom (het lijkt wel een trend want ik zie het in steeds meer boeken) dat pestkopjes maar vergeven en bevriend moeten worden want boehoehohoeeh ze hebben het zo moeilijk vanwege (vul hier iets in wat toepasselijk is) en dus kunnen ze er niks aan doen dat ze een stel etters zijn. Ik vind het gewoon echt niks. Ik ben zelf een flinke tijd in mijn leven gepest, en sorry ik zou echt geen tiet geven om een zielige sobstory van een pester. Je hebt mijn leven verpest, me helemaal gebroken, ga weg met je sobstory. Dat geeft je echt geen reden om iemands leven te verpesten. Plus, het voelt voor mij gewoon alsof het een slecht bericht geeft aan mensen die gepest zijn. Ja, maar die arme pester(s) kon/kunnen er toch niks aan doen. Ach en wee. :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. Welkom in de fantastische gedachten van Omar! Je kent me misschien nog niet, maar als je dit boek opendoet moet je zo hard lachen dat het snot uit je neus spuit. En ik ben blij dat er meer boeken in de serie komen. Want ik heb zeker nog niet genoeg Omar gehad. Wat zal hij de volgende keer doen? He comes up with the idea of a talent show and he talks with his favorite teacher. His teacher and principal help him set it up at school (which I thought was so awesome) and they raise a little over 1000.

Welcome to the imaginative brain of Omar! You might not know me yet,but once you open this book you’ll laugh so hard that snot will come out of your nose.*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!)