Toro

By: Andrew Avner

Narrated by: Brad Raider, George Spielvogel, Malili Dib, Yolanda Corrales, Leila Cohen, Andrew Avner

Alicía Catalina Cortés is a Spanish cow who defies tradition to follow her dream of running with the bulls during the fiesta of San Fermín in Pamplona, Spain. The story evokes beloved family films such as Babe and Ratatouille.

Alicía Catalina Cortés is a Spanish cow who longs to run with the bulls in Pamplona—but since she’s a cow, tradition forbids her from the fiesta of San Fermín. Through her journey, Alicía learns that to be noble and brave, she must follow her dream as well as her heart, even if it means defying tradition. Toro is set in the colorful backdrop of Pamplona, Spain, during the fiesta of San Fermín and the running of the bulls, famed as one of the most exhilarating, dangerous, and spectacular events around the world.

©2020 Andrew Avner (P)2020 Primary Productions

Critic reviews

International Latino Book Award • Mom’s Choice Award • NYC Big Book Award • Best Book Award • Maxy Award • Eric Hoffer Award

“A unique spin on the classic ‘trading places’ tale.” —School Library Journal

“A charming and engaging fantasy with characters readers will love and a strong positive message.” —Kirkus Reviews, Our Verdict: Get It

“Great messages for young people of love, acceptance, gender empowerment, honesty, friendship, and going after what one wants abound in Toro, Andrew Avner’s one-of-a-kind, animal-populated novel for middle readers.” —IndieReader, IR Approved

“This novel has all the elements necessary for a Disney-style movie and will certainly retain the interest of young readers.” —Sublime Book Review

Great for the whole family!

My kids loved this, but so did my wife and I! Avner’s writing is crisp and colorful and his story compelling. And the voice actors bring such life and spark. Can’t wait to listen again.

Best book I’ve read in my whole life!!

Perfect for young kids and older, as well. It has a great overall message conveyed that is amazing for young kids to learn from. I thoroughly enjoyed the audio book and all of the different voices, especially Andrew Avner! They added so much emotion and suspense to the story. I didn’t want to ever put the audio on pause because it was so entertaining. Overall, it was an amazing and entertaining book.

Spectacular in every regard!

I just finished listening to the audiobook Toro. The narrators are wonderful, making the characters come to life. The story itself is one that is uplifting, heartfelt, humorous at times and encourages everyone to pursue their dreams. Although it may be written for middle school students, in my opinion, it would be enjoyable for all ages, myself being an example. Toro would make a wonderful Disney movie and hoping we will be watching it in the near future. Kudos to the author.

Fantastic, uplifting story

Thoroughly enjoyed Toro, including a really compelling story and an uplifting message. It's perfectly catered to children and equally entertaining for adults; you could see this easily being adapted into a fantastic animated film. Loved the range of voices that were featured, too!

Fun story, great listen

Overall, it is a great story and the cast was very good. I found the premise to be very refreshing, a strong cow who wanted to run with the bulls in Pamplona. The supporting characters were very well developed and a few were humorous. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

My only concern was the primary narrator. He really Anglicized the Spanish words and mispronounced the name “Alicia” throughout the story. I found that to be very distracting.