Jafta: The Homecoming

Lewin's excellent series about Jafta, a South African boy, continues with this superb installment. Jafta's father works in a faraway city, ``down a deep hole in the ground, and he's left a big hole in our lives.'' But times are changing in South Africa and Jafta's father is coming home. The boy thinks about the wedding, the storm, the funny things Dad has missed and how much he has missed his father: ``I wanted to tell him things, secret things that only he would understand.'' The book ends with Jafta and his father in a jubilant bear hug. The South African setting lends texture and a sense of history in the making while the story embraces readers of any nation with its universal themes. Kopper rises to the demands of the text, using gentle lines and the series' brown-and-white palette to convey a broad sweep of emotions. Ages 3-7. (Feb.)