Tag Team: El Toro & Friends: A Graphic Novel – A Fun Bilingual Wrestling Story About Teamwork for Kids (Ages 6-10)

El Toro & Friends #2

by Raúl the Third

Luchadores El Toro and La Oink Oink are the perfect tag team as they clean up together in this playful and visually stunning early reader! Perfect for fans of Elephant and Piggie, comic book fans, and kids looking to practice both Spanish and English.

Genres: Picture Books, Graphic Novels, Sports, Spanish Literature, Friendship, Animals, Latinx

56 pages, Hardcover

First published May 4, 2021

About the author

Raúl The Third is an award-winning illustrator, author, and artist living in Boston. His work centers around the contemporary Mexican-American experience and his memories of growing up in El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Muy bien! Raúl the Third is really doing some fantastic stuff; I really like the 'retro-cartoon' look of his art, and his stories always are centered on helping others out. El Toro and his friends bravely face up to their opponents and never give up - they fight fair and always have each others back!

[Bookishrealm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great! I read it out of order but I still was able to enjoy the narrative. This is such a great option for those looking for leveled readers that contain both English and Spanish phrases! I’m a huge fan of exposing kids to other cultures which includes languages. The best part of this book is definitely the artwork. It has a cartoon like style which I loved! And it’s worth looking at all the details Raul puts into his artwork. This took me about half an hour to read not because it’s long but because I was looking at every specific detail in the background and foreground of each page. I cannot recommend this one enough and I’ll definitely be checking out the rest of the series.

[Jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this amusing early reader! This is the kind of representation we need in younger kidlit! Will be especially great to hand to those who love Elephant & Piggie, but with a much more interesting Mexican wrestling cultural lens. And students who speak Spanish will love seeing recognizable words & phrases used throughout.

[Natasha]

My main issue with this is that the male character doesn't know how to clean (his own business) and relies on the female character to teach him how (and for her to do the dirtier jobs like plunge the toilet), so it seems to have some sexist underlying themes, even though he does (ostensibly) learn how to do it himself for next time?

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure I've ever read a kids' book that has cleaning toilets as a key plot point, but here's one example that works really well. At first La Oink Oink and El Toro are wrestling partners, but then they work together to clean up their stadium space. When El Toro is too overwhelmed by the task to even get started, La Oink Oink helps him to think through what they need to do. Then they tackle trash, sticky floors, the toilets, and the escaped training chickens.

Not quite bilingual, but Spanish words are liberally sprinkled throughout the text. La Oink Oink and El Toro demonstrate superb teamwork.

[Roben · Rating 4 out of 5]

El Toro and La Oink Oink are luchadores. In this book, they are working together as a tag team during their wrestling match. And they win! The next morning, El Toro surveys El Coliseo. It is a mess! The animals that are supposed to clean it go to the beach instead. So it is up to El Toro but the job just seems too overwhelming. There is trash everywhere, the floors are sticky, the dishes are dirty, and the bathrooms are a disaster. Suddenly, El Toro has a brilliant idea - he calls La Oink Oink for help and she rushes over. If they work together as a team they can get the job done!. It won't be easy but it is doable.
I love anything by Raúl the Third and that is true of this book also. The combined style of graphic novel and beginning reader should be a big hit with the K-2nd grade crowd. Plus there are several Spanish words and phrases included in the text. And I love La Oink Oink and her car!

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This gets a lot of style points. The art is terrific and the matte colors are fabulous. It also gets a lot of cheekiness points - ‘La oink oink plunges the toilet while el toro jiggles the handle.’ On the other hand - I am not a super-fan of dragging kids, unawares, into the political swamps of their elders. I know I am ignorant, so please let me know - I am assuming El Toro has some Mexicano significance -La oink oink I am not touching with a ten foot pole. I am confident that the other side of the tag team match ‘Bald Aguila” and ‘Donny Dollars’ are pretty obvious stand ins for the good old USA under orange man bad. Is the coliseum, that El Toro and La oink oink are cleaning up post their victory over Donny and Bald, a stand in for Mexico? I do not know; all I am saying is that if you open with Donny and the bald eagle you can be assumed to be leading somewhere. Thank god the art is pretty.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

An English-language easy reader/graphic novel hybrid with Spanish words sprinkled in (with context). Enough stuff in the background of each panel to keep kids' attention without it being overwhelming. This is a great comic to have on hand for readers who are in the early stages of learning or those who need a confidence boost. There are Spanish words, so it would be best for those already familiar with the language but context clues or repetition in English make these not too troubling for monolingual kids. Wouldn't give it to a monolingual kid who needed a confidence boost, though! Would love to see more by Raúl the Third, preferably one where the plot isn't about cleaning (some kids won't be fooled)!

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, loved reading this e-galley! El Toro takes his wrestling into new territory by introducing readers to tag-team wrestling and his partner, La Oink Oink. But this book isn’t just about wrestling, it’s about teamwork and the fun of working together to accomplish a task, in this case, cleaning up the messy El Colisea. It’s a funny, detailed-filled story all readers will enjoy.

This book has English and Spanish throughout the book.

E-galley provided by the publisher via Eidelweiss+.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enter the ring to join El Toro and friends for one of their biggest matches yet -- cleaning El Coliseo the day after the Tag Team Championship! Young readers will be thrilled and enchanted with this early reader and its message of friendship. Filled with vibrant colors and amusing details, readers will learn that good friends come to the rescue no matter what or who the competition is...and you can have fun while doing it! Muy divertido!

[Jessica F · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have liked this installment better if El Torro taken iniative and started cleaning himself, instead if waiting for his female teammate to come tell him what to do. 🤦‍♀️

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this series a lot better than Raúl the Third’s Vamos! series. It’s less busy and easier to digest. El Toro & Friends is funny and action-packed. The author is Mexican-American, and Spanish worlds are sprinkled into the text. I read them to my 5-year-old, who loved them. Recommended for advancing readers who like wrestling or Elephant and Piggie! type books.

[Margaret Boling · Rating 4 out of 5]

3/9/2025 ~ I really appreciated this Early Reader style book with luchadores (Mexican boxers). While the vocabulary is not controlled, there is enough context that most young readers will be able to figure the words out. Likewise, while there are Spanish phrases, they are nearly always accompanied by the same phrase in English and/or illustrations which provide context.

The plots include life lessons, such as teamwork helps get unpleasant jobs done (without being nearly that dry). I'll definitely include all four in my elementary library.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for Librarian Book Group

El Toro and La Oink Oink get (as my father would say: you don't have to, you get to!) to clean up the Caliseo after their big match. This is all thanks to Mal Burro and Peeky Pequeño who have skipped out on their obligations. This book was mostly written in English, with Spanish written in purple. Sometimes the English or Spanish was repeated, sometimes phrases were used alone.

I was mostly annoyed that El Toro and La Oink Oink cleaned the Caliseo.

[Kelly Patton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ooh, I love this book. It's fun, it's spanglish, it's about helping each other, it's about a pig-faced Mexican wrestler who drives an awesome convertible and her teammate El Toro. I was able to listen to Raul read and speak a few months ago and was prepared to really enjoy "Tag Team." I was not disappointed.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

They are cleaning up! I love it! This isn't the book for everyone. The pages are really busy and there are interspersed Spanish words. But there are a lot of kids who speak Spanish at home and the mingling of the two languages may feel really familiar to them, even if it's more challenging for emerging readers who are monolingual in English. Very culturally specific with the lucha libre focus.

[Katelynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the art, humor, and comic book vibes as well as the use of English and Spanish. This is an early reader mixed with a graphic novel; the art is stellar. I had a smile on my face the entire time I read it.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mexican wrestlers Oink Oink and El Toro battle Donny Dollars and Bald Aguila for hours. After the match, it is up to El Toro and Oink Oink to clean the coliseum. It's a big job but teamwork gets it done. A little Spanish sprinkled in the story.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Los luchadores won as a team last light, but can they clean as a team, too? Parents will enjoy this way of encouraging kids to help with housework as if it were a comic fight. Many Latinx kids will relate to the Spanglish

[Rob McMonigal · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute story of a luchador and luchadora who have to combine their skills to clean up an arena after a wrestling match. Great colors, really cool, in your face style of blocky visuals, and I really dug the way it had some untranslated Spanish, too. Really nice book for kids.

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

After winning the championship, El Toro's help calls out and he calls his partner to help clean the stadium.

Several Spanish phrases introduced and colorful illustrations have Luchadores making cleaning look like fun.

[Bethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

El Toro and La Oink Oink have won the match, but the coliseum is a huge mess. Who will clean it up? Love these characters and their easy reader format. Give them to fans of Elephant and Piggie. Would love to see another episode with Mama Toro and/or Punk Nopal (from the bathroom graffiti).

[Ryan Laferney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really love Raúl the Third and his illustrations. This story was a bit hit or miss, as El Toro doesn't really take initiative and needs a woman to help him clean. However, this book could also be interpreted as a story of the power of team work to get a task done.

[Ellice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't actually so much about lucha libre as about a tag team's efforts to clean up the stadium after a big match. The illustrations are colorful and engaging, probably more than the story (which is mostly about collaborating to achieve a goal).

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful! I was so happy to see these characters again and I know the kids at my library will as well.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

El Toro and La Oink Oink join up up for a tag team.

[Marissa Elera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Effervescent and delightful as usual.

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Nichole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and quick book. Amazing illustrations.

[Anna V · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was awesome! I wish they had these kind of books when I was a kid!