Accidental Trouble Magnet: Book 1 (Planet Omar)

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Planet Omar is a fiction text about an imaginary character and imaginary events. However, events such as Ramadan and Eid are real life Muslim festivals. I really enjoyed reading this book as I feel like it is very educational as it explains quite a lot about the Islam religion which can be useful when teaching children about Islam. Especially as it tells the reader about the different prayers that they do everyday, tells the reader about Ramadan and why they do it and also about the two different Eid's that Muslims celebrate throughout the year. Also, this book can teach children how they can stand up to bullies and what should do if they are being bullied in school. This book has excellent illustrations that go alongside the text and they are illustrations that make you feel like you are inside Omar's head and following him through every emotion that he feels. Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments The teacher can use the example of Omar to help children discuss and understand the importance of friendships and bullying. The teacher could help the children to develop their knowledge of the importance of happy friendships positively influencing our emotional well-being(self-esteem and self-confidence and mental health). Omar’s funny, relatable narrative is the perfect answer to the call for both mirrors and windows to fill bookshelves with diverse stories.

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. Omar and his friends are distinct individuals with their own opinions and cultural influences but, rather than being a problem, their differences give the friendship real depth and make them a great team. The issue of inclusion is present in many, if not all classrooms in some form or another, and literature is the perfect way to make children aware of some of the things that are happening around them, in a more subtle way. Not only could this be used in a fictional way during English lessons but also as a way of introducing citizenship for example in PSHE to older children who can relate and empathise with the themes of the book.

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.

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. Previously published as The Muslims, which won the Little Rebels book prize in 2018, this newly illustrated and reworked version of Zanib Mian's hilarious, sweet story is an absolute delight.

About Zanib Mian

There is a range of teaching opportunities and themes the class teacher could use to help children have a discussion about the novel. This is a really hilariously funny, warm hearted, easy-to-read tale, with a gentle moral of how if people work together they can achieve wonderful things. Zanib Mian’s wit and great ability to create believable characters makes this a must read. The illustrations by Nasaya Mafaridik create the perfect mood and this new series will very much suit fans of Tom Gates. This is book two in the Planet Omar series, and readers will also enjoy Zanib Mian’s Accidental Trouble Magnet (previously published as The Muslims) but it’s not necessary to read this first. Ontmoet Omar, een moslimjongen die net verhuist is naar een nieuwe plek en probeert vrienden te vinden en een plek te hebben waar hij blij kan zijn. A very kid-friendly and appealinglyhonest story about being different, being labeled ‘other.'”— The New York Times Book Review Ondertussen zien we ook dat Omars zus in de puberteit belandt is en dat ze daardoor soms, voor Omar, vreemd reageert. Opeens boos worden, weglopen, maar dan ook weer heel vrolijk en blij zijn.

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”. Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing -

Engage children with digital learning

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. What’s worse, the class bully seems to think I’m the perfect target. In this story, Omar and his best friends Daniel and Charlie are on a mission to get a book signed by famous author, Angelina Kind. (Even just finding out the reason they want to get a signed copy was enough to make my eyes watery. I can't make it through one of these books without crying!) The adventure they go on is filled with unexpected challenges, which test them all in different ways. I loved following their journey and I felt their pain every time another thing went wrong. The way the story ended was brilliant and linked very cleverly to everything leading up to it. The whole story was a rush of heartwarming emotions, followed by feeling sorry for a character, indispersed with lots of laughter and I loved it! Use the style of the pictures and bold and different sized writing in the book to encourage children to create a book of their own lifestyles or challenging situations they have experienced. Het boek is ook heerlijk geillustreerd en er waren echt illustraties op bijna elke pagina, klein of groot.