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Raquel M. Ortiz

Goodreads Author

Born

in Lorain, OH, The United States

Website

https://drraquelmortiz.com/

Twitter

rmargueritte

Genre

Children's, Young Adult, Fiction

Member Since

February 2023

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/raquelmortiz

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Dr. Raquel M. Ortiz is an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker, a social anthropologist, educator, storyteller, playwright, performer, poet, composer, editor, illustrator, and author of children's books and songs.

In 2025, Dr. Ortiz children's book, When Julia Danced Bomba / Cuando Julia bailaba bomba inspired the award winning short film, Julia's Dance: A Bomba Flamenco Bedtime Tale by TallyTwo Pictures. In 2022, Dr. Ortiz, a Cleveland Foundation Artist Fellow, released an album of Afro-Puerto Rican bomba songs for children, Que vengan los niños, created in collaboration with Grammy-nominated Latin Jazz legend, composer, and educator, William Cepeda. The songs in the Que vengan los niños are sung in Spanish, English, and some are bilingua Dr. Raquel M. Ortiz is an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker, a social anthropologist, educator, storyteller, playwright, performer, poet, composer, editor, illustrator, and author of children's books and songs.

In 2025, Dr. Ortiz children's book, When Julia Danced Bomba / Cuando Julia bailaba bomba inspired the award winning short film, Julia's Dance: A Bomba Flamenco Bedtime Tale by TallyTwo Pictures. In 2022, Dr. Ortiz, a Cleveland Foundation Artist Fellow, released an album of Afro-Puerto Rican bomba songs for children, Que vengan los niños, created in collaboration with Grammy-nominated Latin Jazz legend, composer, and educator, William Cepeda. The songs in the Que vengan los niños are sung in Spanish, English, and some are bilingual.

Dr. Ortiz’s bilingual stories about Afro-Caribbean and Latinx culture invite children and adults to join in on adventures, featuring children as the protagonists so that they see and celebrate their creativity and valor. She has published Vicki and a Summer of Change! / ¡Vicki y un verano de cambio! (2020) via Red Sugarcane Press). Via Arte Publico Press, Dr. Ortiz has published four titles: Sofi Paints her Dreams / Sofi pinta sus sueños (2019), Broken Butterfly Wings / Alas de mariposa rotas (2021), When Julia Danced Bomba / Cuando Julia bailaba bomba (2019), and Sofi and the Magic, Musical Mural / Sofi y el magico mural musical (2015). Dr. Ortiz also published Planting Flags on Division Street / Plantando banderas en la calle Division (2015) via Bambazo De Colores.

Dr. Ortiz’s bilingual multimedia storytelling using music, puppetry, and video led to a collaboration with Cleveland Public Library’s Sofi and the Magic, Musical Mural musical performance in 2018 and the Cleveland Play House play, !A las nubes! (2022) inspired by Broken Butterfly Wings/Alas de mariposa rotas. Dr. Ortiz’s script and a song for Cucarachita Martina’s Musical Adventure, screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and earned her a 2021 Emmy nomination.

Dr. Ortiz has a PhD in cultural anthropology from the University of Salamanca and a Masters in Puerto Rican studies from the Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe. She is currently working on a novel for middle schoolers that explores folktales and Taíno mythology. ...more

11 posts
Raquel M. Ortiz's Blog

Coming back to NYC

Meet me in Brooklyn, The Bronx, or California!

Have you ever dreamed of being a drummer, singer or dancer? Join me with a puppet production, based on the book, When Julia Danced Bomba / Cuando Julia bailaba bomba! Learn bomba drumming patterns and songs. Then meet choreographer José Costas and dancer Emma Manzanares and learn bomba dance steps. We’ll then screen the short film, Julia’s Dance: A Bom Read more of this blog post »

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Published on October 09, 2025 19:31 • Tags: when-julia-danced-bomba

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Raquel M. Ortiz’s books

Average rating: 3.74 · 80 ratings · 16 reviews · 7 distinct works • Similar authors

	When Julia Danced Bomba/ Cuando Julia bailaba bomba by Raquel M. Ortiz (Goodreads Author), Gabriela Baeza Ventura (Translation), Flor de Vita (Goodreads Author) (Illustrations) 3.90 avg rating — 29 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sofi Paints Her Dreams /Sofi pinta sus sueños by Raquel M. Ortiz (Goodreads Author), Roberta Collier Morales (Illustrations) 3.54 avg rating — 24 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sofi and the Magic, Musical Mural: Sofi y el magico mural musical by Raquel M. Ortiz (Goodreads Author), Maria Dominguez (Illustrator) 3.50 avg rating — 14 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Vicki and A Summer of Change! ¡Vicki y un verano de cambio! by Raquel M. Ortiz (Goodreads Author), Iris Morales 4.14 avg rating — 7 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Broken Butterfly Wings / Alas De Mariposa Rotas by Raquel M. Ortiz (Goodreads Author), Carrie Salazar (Goodreads Author) (Illustrations) 3.83 avg rating — 6 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Planting Flags on Division Street 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Teaching the Struggle for Civil Rights, 1977-Present by John Allphin Moore (Editor), Adam I Attwood (Contributor), Matthew R Campbell (Contributor) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Raquel M. Ortiz wrote a new blog post Coming back to NYC Meet me in Brooklyn, The Bronx, or California! Have you ever dreamed of being a drummer, singer or dancer? Join me with a puppet production, based on t Read more of this blog post »
Oct 09, 2025 07:31PM · like