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! 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. 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. 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. 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.

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.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…" 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 An exciting middle-grade debut starring a Muslim boy with a huge imagination. An NPR Best Book of the Year.

There is a range of teaching opportunities and themes the class teacher could use to help children have a discussion about the novel. Ik was eerst een beetje onzeker of ik dit boek moest meenemen uit de bibliotheek, maar ik ben uiteindelijk heel blij dat ik het heb gedaan. Want dit was een grappig maar ook heel interessant boek. Planet Omar is told in the first person from Omar’s point of view. There’s a variety of text types and doodle images which are engaging for the reader whilst emphasising particular words or phrases as well as introducing personality and tone to the text. In dit boek vind je: een nieuwe school, een nare pestkop, een draak en een zombie, een suikerfeest (jippie) en cadeautjes (dubbeljippie) en heel veel toestanden…” 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.

Planet Omar: Operation Kind

Planet Omar has all of the everyday life family drama and silly humour of Tom Gates and Sam Wu, and it's wonderful to read a funny book for kids featuring a Muslim family. 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. 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. 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.

Yet when mean Mrs Rogers has an accident, Omar's family is there to help. And when Omar and bully Daniel get stranded on a school trip in London, Omar realises that Danny isn't so tough after all... This book was an enjoyable read overall. When I began reading, the first thing I compared this book too was those of David Walliams' due to the use of different fonts on certain words to make them stand out - like Walliams, the chosen fonts tend to be somewhat related to what the word is saying, e.g 'a big cheeky grin' is written on a face in the shape of a smile. 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.

I liked the character of Omar and how we were given some information and an image of each character at the beginning of the book before the story began. This is because I was therefore able to create a more visual image throughout the story. As mentioned above, I also liked the way the story was presented and the fonts and images used to help understand the story. I liked the character of Daniel in the story and how the character changed throughout the book, giving reasons for his behaviour and treatment of others when him and Omar are lost. This really helped me to connect to the character and may be relatable to some children who may read the book. I also think that children would be able to relate to this story due to the age of Omar and his friends - it would be similar to children in key stage 2. 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? 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 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 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.