Jafta - The Homecoming (Picture Puffin) - Softcover

Kindergarten-Grade 2-Another of Lewin's well-written and timely stories that depict the life of a black South African boy. "My father, said Jafta, is coming home. He's been away for a very long time, but Mother says things are changing in our country and now he can come home." Jafta expresses the heartfelt loneliness of being separated from his father, who has had to work far from home, and the joy and excitement of his impending return. The child recounts the events that have occurred in the man's absence-a big storm, his sister's wedding, and the music and dancing at a freedom rally. The youngster longs to share special moments, secret things that only his father will understand. The story concludes quite eloquently with the family and community running to greet the man, and Jafta at last in his arms. Kopper's illustrations surpass her work for the earlier titles in conveying the emotion and spirit of these South African people. The text and artwork fuse to present maturing characters and a subtle theme of political optimism.
Barbara Williams, Queens Public Library, Jamaica, NY
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 5-8. For millions of black children the central cruelty of apartheid was the break-up of family life. Like Isadora's At the Crossroads (Booklist's Top of the List winner as best picture book for 1991), this story is about a child's joy that his father is coming home from working in the mines. The joyous homecoming implies its wrenching opposite: the long years apart. There's an upbeat note here: the boy's mother tells him that "things are changing in our country" and now his father can come home to them. Lewin is South African, and the simple words and realistic sepia-toned illustrations evoke the energy and longing in the rural community. As he waits and prepares for his father's return, the boy remembers all that his father has missed, the things they couldn't share: public events, such as the storm, the harvest, and the music and dancing at the freedom rally, and secret things that nobody else would understand. The homecoming is a village party and, finally, a personal embrace. Hazel Rochman