Versify Tough Times: El Toro & Friends: A Graphic Novel
Versify Tough Times: El Toro & Friends: A Graphic Novel

Tough Times: El Toro & Friends: A Graphic Novel

By Raul the Third

$12.99

Publication Date: March 3, 2026

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Ages 6 to 10, Grades 1 to 5

  • Social media advertising 
  • Designed graphics for social media 
  • Inclusion in Hispanic Heritage Month and Early Graphic Novel round-up campaigns 
  • Select author appearances with school visits 
  • Pitch for select festivals 

“Outrageously creative! Kids will drink in every imaginative detail in El Toro’s wild world!” —Jeff Kinney, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series

From the Eisner Award Nominated World of ¡Vamos! series, Tough Times finds everyone’s favorite young luchador fighting a losing streak in an action-packed, graphic-novel-style El Toro & Friends paper-over-board reader by New York Times bestselling, three-time Pura Belpré Award–winning author-illustrator Raúl the Third.

The rookie Kid Toro hasn’t won a match in a long time. He loses to every wrestler he fights, from Al “the Crane” Scorpio to Prickly Pear to Burrobot. It feels like he’ll never win again!

Luckily, his coach, Ricky Raton, won’t let him give up so easily. As he reminds his young fighter what he does best, Kid Toro starts to realize that, when you get knocked down, getting back up makes all the difference.

Tackling Spanish phrases and packed full of humor, these Eisner-nominated early reader graphic novels are essential for readers who want an action-packed story and lots of laughs.

For more fun with El Toro & Friends, check out:

  • Tag Team
  • Tacos Today
  • Team Up
  • Training Day

About the Author

Raúl the Third is the New York Times bestselling, three-time Pura Belpré Award–winning author-illustrator of ¡Vamos! Let’s Go to the Market, ¡Vamos! Let’s Go Eat, ¡Vamos! Let’s Cross the Bridge, and the rest of the World of ¡Vamos! He illustrated Schneider Family Book Award honoree Stuntboy, in the Meantime, by Jason Reynolds, and the Lowriders series, by Cathy Camper. Raúl was born in Texas and grew up going back and forth between El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, México. He now lives in Medford, Massachusetts, with his New York Times bestselling collaborator, Elaine Bay, and their son, Raúl the Fourth.

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 56

Publisher: Versify

Publication Date: March 3, 2026

ISBN: 9780063396289

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