A review by triscuit807
Old Ramon by Jack Schaefer

5.0

5 stars. This is a wonderful book, beautiful, wise, and brutal. A boy (teenager?) is accompanying an old shepherd (Ramon) at the behest of his father (the son of the herder's original patron) in order to learn the things not contained in books. In the first chapter the boy corrects Ramon who has just told him that sheep are the stupidest of animals; the boy says that chickens are stupider and the books he's read say that they're animals. Ramon disagrees (they're birds which are a separate kind of animal) and thus begins his instruction. As they herd the sheep to higher, greener pastures, they're helped by the brown dog, Pedro, and somewhat hindered by the young, black dog Sancho. Yes, this is a dog book too, and it's one of those dog books. The boy (never named) learns about sheep, loyalty, and the love of dogs as he travels with Ramon. I read this for my Reading Challenge (Bingo 2020 "setting vital to plot") and my Newbery Challenge (Honor 1961). I read this via Open Library/Internet Library due to the Covid 19 pandemic and library closures.