... And Now Miguel

…And Now Miguel was written by Joseph Krumgold and illustrated by Jean Charlot. In 1954 …And Now Miguel was awarded the Newberry Award Medal. Joseph Krumgold is the first author to be awarded the Newberry Award Medal twice. His second Newberry Award Medal was earned in 1959 for the book Onion John.

Miguel Chavez is a twelve year old boy who has dreams of joining the men in his family on their annual trip with the sheep to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. This has been the job of the Chavez family for many, many years.

It started when Miguel’s grandfather worked for another sheep farmer. Instead of getting paid money, Miguel’s grandfather asked to be paid in sheep. Grandfather Chavez was a man who saw into the future and sought out a way to raise a family and secure their future in New Mexico. Over the years, the Chavez sheep farm expanded to well over twelve hundred sheep. Instead of working for other farmers, the Chavez family now needed to hire people to work for them. Many of the farm hands on the Chavez farm were family members: Uncle Bonifacio, Uncle Eli, Old Blas (father), Young Blas (oldest brother), and Gabriel (second oldest brother). Miguel also has two older sisters, a younger brother, Pedro, and a younger sister, Faustina.

It was a yearly cycle. Every year the lambs would be born, the sheep needed to be sheared, and the flock driven up to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to feed off of the luscious green grass. Every year when the sheep began to produce lambs, Miguel would prepare his bag to go with the men up to the Sangre de Cristo. In his twelfth year, his actions were no different…except one.

On May fifteenth, the whole town of Los Cordovas celebrated San Ysidro Day. San Ysidro was the saint who was designated to watch over and answer the many prayers of people all over the world but especially those who lived in Los Cordovas. On this special day, Miguel asked San Ysidro to make it happen so that he could go with the men of his family to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

This simple prayer and immense belief that it will happen became a reality. Soon other men who have worked with the Chavez family began to notice Miguel’s focus and determination to work harder than ever before. In fact, he earned the name twister because he swept so fast and furious that a dust cloud followed him around like that Charlie Brown character who always had the dust cloud following him everywhere.

A letter came in the mail for Gabriel, his most admired brother. The letter simply told him that he service to his country would begin in two weeks. This meant that Gabriel could not go with the men up into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to help with the sheep. Miguel’s father then told Miguel that it was “time” for him to come. Simple, sweet, and to the point. Just the words, “it is time”.

MY THREE CENTS: Miguel was a lucky boy. In fact, Miguel was a fortunate young man who had a grandfather to converse with, a father to watch, and an older brother in whom he watch and talk with. He was a young man who thought deeply about many things in life. Miguel dreamed about the future but not an impossible future. He studied every aspect of sheep farming and mastered every part of it in his heart and mind.

I really liked the simplicity of the story as well as the Chavez family. They were a family that deeply cared about one another and were devoted to keeping the family alive. Life was hard but they found joy and happiness in one another. Life is a journey, like the ones the sheep take up and down the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, and they travel it together. Everyone in the family plays an important part in this journey, even Miguel.

Although he got in trouble, my favorite part in the book was the time when Miguel scrapped school to look for the lost sheep and lambs. He walked for miles and miles until he found them. He gathered information (data), used his eyesight, used his ears, and used his understanding of sheep to locate them. Miguel, at twelve years old, was able to do what grown men were unable to. It was gratifying to me to read of a young man achieving a goal he set out to do. Best of all, this goal was to bring back home safely the number of sheep and lambs that were lost. Like a true pastor, he was going to find, retrieve, and bring home safely the lost sheep of his family’s fold. In a way, it reminds me of the Great pastor who ceaselessly searches for His lost sheep. When he finds them, He brings them home to experience the safety, security, and peace only he can provide.

AR QUIZ: 100%