How do you get young children interested in reading?

Planet Omar – Incredible Rescue Mission by Zanib Mian

Illustrated by Nasaya Mafaridik

Published by Hachette Children’s Books at £6.99

ISBN: 978 1 444 95129 5

Pages: 238

Author Contact Details:

Twitter: @Zendibble

https://www.muslimchildrensbooks.co.uk/

Illustrator Contact Details:

Instagram: @a.nasaya

Publisher website:
www.hachettechildrens.co.uk  

@HachetteKids

Under 100

characters summary:

Omar and his gang have to contend with the alien abduction of their favourite school teacher.

The first line:

That was my annoying alarm clock, waking me for the first day of school after the holidays.

My review:

A little while back, I was lucky enough to introduce Zanib Mian to the Year 4 and 5 children at my school, for whom she was paying a book visit. They were thoroughly entertained and inspired by her short talk. Now many children in Year 4 are reading this story. 

It is the perfect sort of book for this age group… and it is one of a large, and growing, series, starring the same main character! The chapters are short and exciting, the writing changes style, shape and size to illustrate what is going on and there are lots of comic style illustrations all over the page in the style of David Walliams books. The plot follows Omar and his friends as they try to discover what has happened to their favourite school teacher, and try to survive the replacement supply teacher. After convincing themselves that she has been abducted by aliens, the plot races forward towards a time limit, as Omar has to go on a family holiday to Pakistan! There are a lot of really nice relationships (that lots of children will be able to relate to) between the characters – Omar and his siblings, friends, school enemies and parents!

My view is that, along with many other strategies, these bright, extravagantly doodled, exciting types of books will enthral even the most reluctant of readers with a long term love of reading.

An extract from this review will be published in the UKLA’s 4-11 magazine – check it out for other great children’s book reviews and articles about Primary education!

English 4-11 Magazine