Rafael López

The artwork of Rafael López is a fusion of strong graphic style and magical symbolism. He is inspired by his rich cultural heritage growing up in a family of architects, poets, musicians and artists in central Mexico. Rafael works in digital and traditional artwork, painting on wood boards or other textured surfaces with acrylic paints, sable brushes, hand pottery tools to create brilliant backgrounds and rich colors.

Rafael’s 2022 picture books: The Year We Learned to Fly by Jacqueline Woodson (Nancy Paulsen/Penguin, Jan) which has received four starred views and has been named a 2022 Kirkus Prize finalist. The Little Book of Joy by His Holiness The Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Random House) will be published in US and UK on September 27. Rafael is the two-time #1 New York Times bestselling illustrator of The Day You Begin, by Jacqueline Woodson (Nancy Paulsen/Penguin) and Just Ask! by Sonia Sotomayor (Philomel/Penguin), which received the ALA Schneider Family Book Award for Young Children. He is the three-time Pura Belpré Medal award-winning illustrator of Dancing Hands by Margarita Engle (Simon & Schuster), Drum Dream Girl by Margarita Engle (HMH) Book Fiesta! by Pat Mora, (Harper); and the four-time Pura Belpré Honor award-winning illustrator of Tito Puente: Mambo King/Rey del mambo by Monica Brown (Harper), BRAVO! Poems About Amazing Hispanics by Margarita Engle (Holt), My Name Is Celia by Monica Brown (R&L), and The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred by Susan Vamos (Charlesbridge). His picture book Maybe Something Beautiful by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell (Clarion), was awarded the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Book Award, ALA Notable Book, and Jumpstart “Read for the Record” Book, also available in a Spanish edition, Quizás algo hermoso.

Rafael’s artwork can also be seen in murals around the world, United States Postal Service stamps, the World Wildlife Federation and The Smithsonian Institute. Visit Rafael in his studio on Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.

• #1 New York Times Picture Books Bestseller for The Day You Begin and Just Ask! 
• 2020 ALA Schneider Family Book Award for Just Ask! 
• 2020 Pura Belpré Illustration Medal for Dancing Hands, Drum Dream Girl  and Book Fiesta! 
• Society of Illustrators Silver Medal for BRAVO Poems About Amazing Hispanics 
• Tomás Rivera Mexican American Book Award for Maybe Something Beautiful written by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell
• Andrew Carnegie Award for Outstanding Video for Drum Dream Girl  written by Margarita Engle and produced by Dreamscape Media
• Pura Belpré Honor for Illustration for Tito Puente: Mambo King/Rey del mambo, The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred, Yum Mmmm Qué Rico! 
America’s Sproutings, and My Name Is Celia Written/Me llamo Celia