A Belfer Bar Mitzvah

Bar Mitzvah (son of the commandment) and Bat Mitzvah (daughter of the commandment) mark the age when adult reason and responsibility begin. In this third book about her, Toby Belfer, a Jewish girl growing up in rural Louisiana, learns about the Bar Mitzvah ceremony through her older cousin Paul. Beginning with Toby's invitation to Paul's Bar Mitzvah and ending with the cutting of the challah and the traditional dance called the horah, the reader is led through the experience of this ancient ceremony. Now Toby is better prepared to begin her own studies for the Bat Mitzvah, changing perhaps only one thing-pink instead of green balloons

As in the other Belfer stories, author Gloria Teles Pushker gives the appropriate Jewish terms and follows them with definitions so that Jews and non-Jews alike can gain a greater understanding of the traditions and rituals that make up the Jewish faith. Gloria Teles Pushker was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is also the author of Toby Belfer Never Had a Christmas Tree and Toby Belfer's Seder: A Passover Story Retold . She received a master's degree in education with a concentration in children's literature from the University of New Orleans. She teaches children's literature at Loyola University and Xavier University, both in New Orleans. A recognized speaker, Pushker appears at schools, libraries, synagogues, and churches, bringing her costumes and characters to life in the classroom for programs on multicultural understanding. She is a member of the National Storytelling Association and the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education.

Judith Hierstein resides in Auburn, Maine, where she teaches art at the elementary school level. Emphasizing how pictures begin where the written word ends, she stresses to her students the value of learning about other cultures through illustrated children's books. She holds a B.A. in art from the University of Iowa. She is also the illustrator of Gloria Teles Pushker's other two books with Pelican, Toby Belfer Never Had a Christmas Tree and Toby Belfer's Seder: A Passover Story Retold.