SOMEBODY'S NEW PAJAMAS

On his first sleepover, Jerome is nonplussed when his friend Robert asks where his pajamas are and then casually offers him a pair. Accustomed to sleeping in his underwear, Jerome quietly accepts the offering. Back home, Jerome thinks about how different families have different customs, and when Robert comes for a return visit, offers him clean underwear to sleep in. Jackson's first book presents the problem and resolution in a low-key, relatively nondidactic way; although Robert's family is well-off and the pajamas become something of a symbol, when Jerome does receive some, he decides to wear them only half the time, because ``this family does things its own way.'' Soman places his African-American characters in a tidy urban setting, with Jerome's five-room apartment looking as spacious as Robert's brownstone. A salutary lesson in values, gently delivered. (Picture book. 5-7)