I am a teacher who has participated in a 2 week whole school topic on this text. The children range in age from 7 - 11 and our focus was on communication, discrimination and other PSHE elements that the book deals with. It s a wonderful fairy tale about a deaf boy, and the troubles he has getting his parents to accept that they may have to find alternative methods to communicate with him. The message is loud and clear - we are all special and we all need to adapt to accommodate the differences in people around us.
It was quite tricky for the younger children to understand the message, but with discussion, role play, creative writing and art, inspired by the amazing illustrations by Jane Ray, the children have all taken away an important message. There should be more children's books which feature children with disabilities.