The Boy in the Jam Jar

Joyce Dunbar's The Boy in the Jam Jar is a gentle, honest story for 6 year olds about a boy whose world has suddenly gone quiet.

What happens

Dylan wakes from a strange dream. He was stuck inside a jam jar, shouting at his mum, and not a sound came out. Then he wakes up and the silence is still there. The tap runs without a splash. The toilet flushes with no noise at all.

Dylan is losing his hearing. It turns out he's been lip-reading for ages without anyone noticing (he's a dreamy boy, so everyone just thought he wasn't listening). Now there are hospital tests, strange new words like audiogram, and a pair of hearing aids he really doesn't want.

Being special is the last thing he's after, he tells his mum. He'd much rather be like everyone else.

Back at school his friends shout into his face or talk to him like robots. Some stop bothering to repeat things. It's a very real look at how lonely it can feel when nobody quite knows how to help, and Dylan's grumpiness makes complete sense.

There are lovely moments too. In art he draws a planet called Otherwhere, where there's no air, so there's no sound and nobody needs to hear. And in a guessing game in class it turns out he's brilliant at reading faces. Who knew?

Then there's Pluto, his soppy dog, who bounds in every morning whatever kind of day Dylan's having. When things go wrong at a very windy funfair, Pluto's the one to watch!

Any child who's ever felt left out of the group will understand Dylan straight away. It's also a nice way in if your family is getting used to hearing aids of its own.

What to read next

If they'd like another deaf hero with a dog at the heart of the story, try Lizzie and Lucky. Lizzie and her whole family are deaf, and she's busy writing a very long list of reasons why she should be allowed a dog.