Raúl Colón - Click to see all titles by this author.

Born in New York City, Raúl Colón grew up loving music, art, and reading--especially comic books like Spiderman and Sgt. Rock. Chronic asthma frequently kept him home from school; during this time, he filled dozens of composition notebooks with drawings.

After moving to Puerto Rico with his family, Raúl studied commercial art in high school. Later, he returned to New York, working first as a graphic artist for an educational TV station, and later as a freelance illustrator. His work has appeared in national publications and more than thirty children’s books.

Raúl has received two Pura Belpré Awards, ALA Notable honors, a Golden Kite Award, and medals from the Society of Illustrators. His work has been included twice in the New York Public Library’s “100 titles for Reading and Sharing,” and he is a two-time recipient of the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Award.

His unique art technique involves covering textured watercolor paper with a light wash of yellow, drawing in the images with colored pencil, and adding from five to eight more color washes. He then uses a “scratcher,” and finally layers prismacolor pencils and lithograph crayons. He finds his ideas while looking through magazines, watching music videos and movies, playing his guitar, going for a walk, and staring at the sky.

Raúl’s wife, Edith, is a model for his book characters. They live north of New York City.