Childrens Book Review of The Santero's Miracle: A Bilingual Story by Rudolfo Anaya

Ten-year-old Andrés assists his grandfather, don Jacobo, in carving San Isidro, patron saint of farmers, during the Christmas holidays. A little angel and two oxen await the application to the aspen-carved, gesso-coated San Isidro icon of:

• Black to boots, eyes, hair;
• Blue jacket;
• Grey to pants, wide-brimmed hat.

Andrés considers adventurous:

• Breakfasting on doña Sofia’s fried bacon, potatoes, tortillas;
• Feeding the family’s black, rabbit-chasing, shaggy dog Zorro (“Fox”);
• Gathering eggs;
• Milking cows;
• Road-sledding through aspen-, cedar-, pine-forested valleys in northern New Mexico’s Sangre de Cristo (“Christ’s Blood”) Mountains.
• Shoveling footpaths through two feet (0.61 meters) of snow.

Don Jacobo deplores unplowed snowfalls keeping:

• Ambulances from emergencies;
• Relatives in Los Alamos, Santa Fe, and Taos from village reunions.

Don Jacobo asks for San Isidro’s intervention. He awakens to cleared roads. Don Leopoldo’s wife calls the ambulance which transports weak-hearted don Leo within the hour. Andrés, don Jacobo, and doña Sofia clear the muddy tracks left on the porch by the snow-logged feet of:

• The angel;
• San Isidro;
• Two oxen.

Luis, don Jacobo’s only child, drives in from Los Alamos with his daughter Veronica and wife. In the event of sequels, readers therefore imagine Don Leo’s recovering and welcoming gifts of doña Sofia’s posole (corn and meat stew). But will Andrés finish school and college to train as an engineer like his father or as a santero like his grandfather, great grandfather, and great great grandfather?

The beginning of Dr. Anaya’s Christmas story describes Don Jacobo sharing his dream about the angel, San Isidro, and two oxen statues plowing fields in December, not April. It foreshadows happy endings. The Santero’s Miracle indeed offers many opportunities for:

• Analyzing cultural contexts;
• Applying literary criticism;
• Assimilating Spanish phrases.

The “must-own” miracle story’s pervasive elegance is due to the collaboration of:

• Rudolfo Anaya, in fact- and fiction-writing and in Chicano, English, Hispanic, and Spanish literatures;
• Amy Córdova, in book illustration and fine arts;
• Enrique Lamadrid, in folklore, history, translation;
• Melissa Tandysh, in composition and design;
• Tien Wah Press of Singapore, in binding and printing;
• University of New Mexico Press, in publishing.

It welcomes:

• Ages 6+;
• First-grade onward.

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

San Isidro, beloved as patron saint of farmers, symbolizes the dignity of work and the holiness that is attainable through ordinary lives.
"San Isidro Labrador (Saint Isidore the Farmer)": 1866 oil on canvas by Joaquin Castañon
San Antonio Museum of Art, Texas Triangle, south central Texas: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joaquin_Castañon_-_San_Isidro_Labrador,_1866,_San_Antonio_Museum_of_Art.jpg

The practice of creating santo images (religious-themed images, such as angels, Our Lady Mary, saints), originating in Spain, spread to the New World; it is preserved as folk art in New Mexico.
One of New World's foremost santeros (wood carver of santo images): Patrociño Barela (ca. 1900 - July 2, 1964), self-taught and illiterate, poses with his carvings and one of his children.
Smithsonian Archives of American Art, Federal Art Project, Photographic Division: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Archives_of_American_Art_-_Patrociño_Barela_-_3266.jpg

Posole in clay bowl: Hearty, pre-Columbian traditional stew is welcome comfort food.
Cuernavaca, Morelos state, south central Mexico: Meutia Chaerani / Indradi Soemardjan http://www.indrani.net, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pozole.jpg

In "The Santero's Miracle," 10-year-old Andrés enjoys road-sledding through forested valleys of Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
Sangre de Cristo Mountains, behind Santa Fe, during a winter sunset after a downfall of snow
north central New Mexico; Jan. 30, 2013, at 06:31: Vivaverdi, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sangre_de_Christo_Mountains-Winter_sunset.jpg

In "The Santero's Miracle," Andrés' father, don Jacobo, worries that heavy, unplowed snowfalls will deter family reunions with relatives in Taos ("place of red willows").
"Near Taos, Rio Grande": 1997 oil on masonite by O. (Orville) Gail Poole (September 30, 1935-April 13, 2013)
O. Gail Poole Collection; Lisa Nicole Poole, owner; Norman, Cleveland County, central Oklahoma: Nicole Poole (NicolePoole), CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Near_Taos,_Rio_Grande,_by_O._Gail_Poole.JPG

In "The Santero's Miracle," Andrés' father, don Jacobo, worries about snowfall as hardship, foiling visits from relatives in Los Alamos.
view of Los Alamos (Spanish: Los Álamos, "the cottonwoods"), with Omega Bridge across Los Alamos Canyon: Daniel Schwen (Dschwen), CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Los_Alamos.jpg

Anaya, Rudolfo. 2004. The Santero's Miracle: A Bilingual Story. Illustrations by Amy Cordova. Spanish Translation by Enrique Lamadrid. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.

Gonzales, Edward. Patrocino Barela Sculpture Gallery. Retrieved December 3, 2014.

• Available at: http://patrocinobarela.com/index.html

Gonzales, Edward; and Witt, David L. 1996. Spirit Ascendant: The Art and Life of Patrociño Barela. Santa Fe, NM: Red Crane Books, Inc.

Gonzales, Edward; and Witt, David L. “Spirit Ascendant: The Art and Life of Patrociño Barela, an Appreciation of Barela. LaPlaza.org: Art. Retrieved December 3, 2014.

• Available at: http://www.laplaza.org/art/barela/bio.html

“Harwood Museum of The University of New Mexico. LaPlaza.org: Art. Retrieved December 3, 2014.

• Available at: http://www.laplaza.org/art/harwood/

“Hispanic.” The Harwood Museum of Art: Collections. Taos, New Mexico. Retrieved December 3, 2014.

• Available at: http://www.harwoodmuseum.org/collections/hispanic

Loomis, Sylvia. 2 July 1964. “Oral History Interview with Patrocino Barela, 1964 July 2.” Smithsonian Archives of American Art: Research Collections > Oral History Interviews – B. Retrieved December 3, 2014.

• Available at: http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-patrocino-barela-5438

Mares, E.A. 2010. Astonishing Light: Conversations I Never Had with Patrociño Barela. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press.

Mares, E.A. . "astonishing light: Conversations I Never Had with Patrociño Barela." Tony's Cantina.com. Retrieved December 3, 2014.

• Available at: http://www.tonyscantina.com/astonishing_light__conversations_i_never_had_with_patroci_o_barela_112805.htm

"El Milagro del Santero." NMSU College of Extended Learning. Las Cruces, NM: New Mexico State University. Retrieved December 3, 2014.

• Available at: http://santeros.nmsu.edu/about/index-sp.html

"Patrocino Barela." Owings Gallery. Santa Fe, New Mexico. Retrieved December 3, 2014.

• Available at: http://www.owingsgallery.com/artists/patrocino-barela/

“Patrocino Barela (American). Artnet.com: Artists. New York, NY: Artnet Worldwide Corporation. Retrieved December 3, 2014.

• Available at: http://www.artnet.com/artists/patrocino-barela/past-auction-results

“Patrociño Barela, Carver: Recounting the Life of Taos Woodcarver, Patrociño Barela.” The Collectors Guide. Albuquerque, New Mexico. Retrieved December 3, 2014.

• Available at: http://www.collectorsguide.com/fa/fa046.shtml