Accidental Trouble Magnet: Book 1 (Planet Omar)

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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. None of the other teachers will say where she is so Omar and his friends, Daniel and Charlie, decide they have to investigate. As they collect their evidence, everything seems to point to one unlikely conclusion: Mrs Hutchinson has been abducted by aliens! Omar and his family have just moved, and he is NOT excited about starting at a new school. What if the work is too hard or the kids are mean or the teacher is a zombie alien?! 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.

Planet Omar discusses issues such as bullying and prejudices and the impacts of these. This type of bullying can make others think negative of themselves even when they've done nothing wrong. It can affect the way people think about themselves and make them feel ashamed of who they are. Every person is unique and we should celebrate differences as it makes the world we live in an interesting and inspirational place. Anyone who is different shouldn't be excluded from anything, whether it's a game, a school or anything for that matter. In the story Omar and his family overcome these negative emotions by educating others about their religion and beliefs. 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. Wat ik ook leuk vond aan het boek is dat Omar en zijn familie moslims zijn en we van alles leren over verschillende dingen in hun leven. Ik wist al een flink aantal dingen, maar ik heb ook wat nieuwe dingen geleerd. Ik moest wel lachen (net als Omar en zijn zus) hoe zijn moeder soms door het huis vloog omdat ze haar hoofddoek weer eens kwijt was en ze de deur open moest doen. We lezen ook over verschillende feesten, zoals het suikerfeest die ik wel eens heb gevierd met mijn basisschoolklas en ook met een vriendinnetje dat moslim(a) was.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 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. An exciting middle-grade debut starring a Muslim boy with a huge imagination. An NPR Best Book of the Year.

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. 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…" The first and most obvious teaching point comes from the approach to different religions, in this case the characters were Muslim. Mian has included facts about this religion, such as the names for each prayer of the day, which will allow the children to learn about Muslims beliefs and traditions whilst reading. This would be a great teaching opportunity, to get the children to learn about different religions and appreciate the differences between people. 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.* 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. I also enjoyed the choices of font used throughout this book. It encouraged my imagination to run wild. It makes the book more accessible for children, in particular the children who may struggle with reading. This is because it breaks up the text into small and manageable chunks having the images and crazy fonts alongside to help with comprehension of the story. This could be used to look at language and how it can be represented. Such as when Mian has used lightening bolts instead of 'S' in the sentence 'as fast as humanly possible'. The children could discuss her choice to replace the 'S' and why she might have chosen a lightening bolt. This will help to develop their creative writing and think deeper about their language choice. 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.