Tough Times
El Toro & Friends: A Graphic Novel
Published on 23. April 2026
Book
Hardback
56 pages
978-0-06-339628-9 (ISBN)
Description
"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 Belpre Award-winning author-illustrator Raul 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
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 Belpre Award-winning author-illustrator Raul 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
Reviews / Votes
"Fantastically fun! Your kids will go loco for El Toro!" - Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid seriesPRAISE FOR TAG TEAM AND TRAINING DAY: "In typical !Vamos! style, a vibrant world bursts to life on every page, filled with movement and a detailed host of cartoon characters... Raul offers a lesson in visual literacy, utilizing speech bubbles and panels in addition to traditional narration." - Booklist (starred review)
PRAISE FOR TAG TEAM AND TRAINING DAY: "Simple sentences and recognizable-yet entirely fresh and original-plot structures set up young readers for accomplishment. Visual and linguistic whirls and twirls match the fast-paced tempo of lucha libre, serving up dazzling Chicano English." - Horn Book (starred review)
PRAISE FOR TAG TEAM AND TRAINING DAY: "Providing bilingual and bilingual-wannabe audiences with easy reader materials that reflect and promote conversational and reading flexibility... with phrases sometimes translated within the text, sometimes understandable through visual context clues, and often delightfully left for readers to puzzle out on their own." - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)
PRAISE FOR TEAM UP: "[A] vibrant comic book-style world... Clear outlines, lively pastel colors and easy-to-read text-which identifies Spanish sentences in purple font-provide an atmosphere full of action." - School Library Journal (starred review)
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Target group
Children/juvenile
US School Grade: From First Grade to Fifth Grade, Interest Age: From 6 to 10 years
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 230 mm
Width: 173 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
Weight
263 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-06-339628-9 (9780063396289)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
03/2026
HarperCollins
€8.84
Available for download
Persons
Raul the Third is the New York Times bestselling, three-time Pura Belpre 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. Raul was born in Texas and grew up going back and forth between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. He now lives in Medford, Massachusetts, with his New York Times bestselling collaborator, Elaine Bay, and their son, Raul the Fourth.
Raul the Third is the New York Times bestselling, three-time Pura Belpre 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. Raul was born in Texas and grew up going back and forth between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. He now lives in Medford, Massachusetts, with his New York Times bestselling collaborator, Elaine Bay, and their son, Raul the Fourth.
Raul the Third is the New York Times bestselling, three-time Pura Belpre 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. Raul was born in Texas and grew up going back and forth between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. He now lives in Medford, Massachusetts, with his New York Times bestselling collaborator, Elaine Bay, and their son, Raul the Fourth.