Biography

Raúl The Third is a New York Times-bestselling and four-time Pura Belpre award-winning illustrator, author, and artist. His work centers around the contemporary Mexican-American experience and his memories of growing up in El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

¡Vamos! Let’s Go to The Market! was Raúl’s first authorial project and was and colored by Elaine Bay. It was awarded a Pura Belpre honor by the American Library Association and Reforma. Vamos! Let’s go Eat and Vamos! Let’s Cross the Bridge were also awarded the Pura Belpre. Vamos! Let’s Cross the Bridge was named one of the year’s Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2021 by the New York Times and the New York Public Library. He is currently adapting his World of Vamos! books into an animated television series with Silvergate Media and Mercury Filmworks.

Raul’s graphic novel Lowriders in Space was nominated for a Texas Bluebonnet award and was awarded a Pura Belpré Award for Illustration. He is the co-creator of the Snips a new graphic novel series with Elaine Bay from Little Brown and Company. He is also currently collaborating with New York Times-bestselling author Jason Reynolds on the Stuntboy books from Simon & Schuster.

Raul lives with his family in Medford, Massachusetts.