Planet Omar: Ultimate Rocket Blast

Planet Omar #5

by Zanib Mian, Kyan Cheng (Illustrator)

The action-packed fifth installment in the infectiously sweet illustrated middle grade series starring a Muslim boy with a huge imagination.

Omar and his friends are blasting off on another adventure—this time at a rocket-building competition. All of his family's Science Sundays prepared Omar to lead his friends on their quest to build the best rocket in their school, sending them to the nationals. But when their rocket is sabotaged, Omar and his friends have to use their expertise in science and mysteries to find the culprit.   

This fifth book in the charming, warmhearted, and hilarious series about a boy growing up in a close-knit Muslim family, packed with eye-popping artwork by Kyan Cheng, is explosively fun!

Genres: Science

201 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 13, 2023

About the author

Zanib grew up in London, UK. She began writing stories and poetry when she was just a little girl, and was well known by her teachers, friends, and family to rhyme about anything that meant something to her. If you’re lucky, she will allow you to see some of her writing, which she has kept safe for over twenty five years!But you might have to visit her in her little Hobbit house in the Shire to see it!

Reviews

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

It turns out this is the last book of the series (so far), but that didn’t affect my understanding at all. It’s a book that celebrates STEM and family and cooperation. It’s mostly meant for boys, with plenty of burp and fart references. The storyline is actually kind of suspenseful and stays interesting throughout.

The book features actual diversity that doesn’t feel like pandering. The MC is a British Muslim boy, and the author is a British Muslim woman.

Visually, the book is full of drawings and varying fonts. It will inspire kids to be scientifically curious, honest, and courteous.

Language: Clean
Sexual Content: None
Violence/Gore: None
Harm to Animals: None
Harm to Children: None
Other (Triggers): Cheating (contest), teasing; contains some general religious references

[Bexa · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the fifth adventure of Omar and friends they get the opportunity to enter a rocket building contest and a chance to win a tour of a real rocket. Omar teams up with Charlie and Daniel, learn about Newton's laws of motion, and have lots of discussions about farts. This is a fun adventure though I was disappointed that the only nice people seemed to be the adults and Omar's team. Their classmates are mean, the competitors are mean (but one group becomes nicer), and even Omar's sister is meaner than usual. I understand that the author was trying to make some points about character but I was really sad with everyone else and wanted to stop reading it before the ending. The ending was typical of the series and the group is going to have lots more adventures.

[Hana (myjourneywithbooks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

Omar and best friends Charlie and Daniel have to design the best rocket in order to be chosen as the team from their school to participate in the MXF Labs competition, and once there, their rocket has to be good enough to win the competition. Throughout the whole process, Omar and his friends need to overcome many obstacles. At first, they have no idea how to go about designing their rocket, but with proper prompts from Omar's scientist parents, they're able to do their own research and experiments to figure things out.

Then, once at the MXF labs, they encounter meanness from other teams and to top it all off, the boys have to undertake a superspy mission when they realise someone is out to sabotage the competition. Omar also faces a dilemma when he has to decide if it's more important for him to win or let his friend build up his budding self-confidence.

Filled with a great mix of mystery, adventure, science and humour (plenty of burp and fart jokes to appeal to the middle grade audience), this book packs in a lot of entertainment in its nearly 200 pages. It is effortlessly diverse in the representation of its characters (not like with some other books where it seems like the author is just ticking off some boxes) and imparts some valuable lessons on friendship and faith without being preachy.

Omar is a very relatable character to kids of the same age; there's just something so genuine about him and the way his thoughts are presented. The friendship and family dynamics were lovely to read about as usual, and Omar's neighbour, Mrs Rogers, keeps getting better with each book 😁

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an electronic ARC from PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group through NetGalley.
Omar, Charlie and Daniel are back for another adventure. This time their school is participating in a rocket building challenge. The prize is a tour of an actual rocket. The three do their research and construct a rocket for the school mini challenge. After winning, they compete against three other teams at MXF Labs. They have to use their detective skills to figure out why the rockets are being sabotaged and expose the culprit.
Humor and encouragement plus an acknowledgement that we all have our own areas of expertise. All three friends shine along and together they are an unbeatable community.

[Juwi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really into science so it was kinda boring but the end was wholesome and pure so it was okay!

[Safiye B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this series!

[Zaid kaddour · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like those books.I encourage Zanib mian to keep publishing this series.

[Rumaisa Bilal · Rating 5 out of 5]

The more I read Planet Omar the more I feel grateful for this series.

[Ka Lam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Planet Omar est une série drôle et amusante ! On y suit Omar dans son quotidien à l'école mais ce qui en fait une série particulière c'est qu'il est musulman et c'est normal...

[Joey J · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is absolutely the best I would have rated it a million or infinity or trillion. I bet that you would like this book if you like reading chemistry wha'll fiction the same time.

[Sofia Sarwar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible! Zanib Mian sure knows how to crack someone up! Would definitely recommend it for all ages! 😍😍😍

[Eliza Colman]

Coooooooool book 👍 amazing

[Between The Pages (Gemma M) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meet main character Omar and his friends who decide they want to take part in a rocket building competition with the best prize ever for the winners. They refuse to be beaten. Alas there is bullying along the way and a few tricks and cheating but can they do it? A brilliant read for younger children. Beautifully illustrated throughout. A well deserved four stars.