Rio Cortez is the New York Times bestselling author of picture books The ABCs of Black History illustrated by Lauren Semmer (Workman, 2020); The River Is My Sea, illustrated by Ashleigh Corrin (S&S, 2024); The Blue Velvet Chair, illustrated by Aaron Marin (S&S, 2025); and The ABCs of Women’s History, illustrated by Lauren Semmer (Workman, 2025). Her debut poetry collection, Golden Ax, was published to critical acclaim by Penguin, and praised by Roxane Gay, Ross Gay, Tope Folarin in Vulture, Ron Charles in The Washington Post, Brenda Shaughnessy, Morgan Parker, NPR, and more. The poetry collection was also longlisted for the 2022 National Book Award for Poetry and the Pen America Open Book Award. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, she now lives, writes, and works in Harlem. Rafael?López?is a?New York Times–bestselling, award winning illustrator who has illustrated numerous acclaimed picture books, including?The Day You Begin?and?The Year We Learned to Fly?(New York Times?bestsellers),?Dancing Hands?(Pura Belpré Medal), and?Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You?(Schneider Award), among others. Rafael is the recipient of three Pura Belpré medals, the Schneider Family Book Award, the Jane Addams Book Award, and the Tomás Rivera Book Award. He was the first guest artist of the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum and founder of the Urban Art Trail, a series of large-scale community murals around the U.S. Rafael lives in San Diego and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.?You can visit him at rafaellopez.com.
