Talk about a trailblazer.
Kansas City children’s book author Christine Taylor-Butler has set the publishing
world on fire in just a few years. Since she left her management position at Hallmark five years ago, she has:
- Written 24 books for early readers;
- Penned a four-book fantasy series;
- Gained the respect of children’s book editors, publishers, and authors across the country;
- Organized two children’s writers’ conferences in Kansas City;
- Mentored scores of aspiring children’s writers.
“More than anyone I’ve
known, Christine is a force of nature and a gentle soul,” say literary agent Erin Murphy of Flagstaff, Arizona. “Her
smile lights up a room.”
And her talent lights up a child’s imagination, says Murphy, who signed Taylor-Butler as a client after reading two
chapters of her novel, The Lost Tribes.
That was in 2003, and Taylor-Butler was an unpublished author. “Christine’s novel was just so different from
anything I’d ever read,” says Murphy, who met Taylor-Butler at a writers’ conference in Houston. “It
was just too fabulous to pass up.”
The Lost Tribes is a about a group of multi-cultural friends who discover they are not only connected with the history
of the world, but they also are important to the future of the universe.
“Christine’s books give kids from all kinds of minority cultures a sense of ownership of their history,”
Murphy says. “And she’s does it in an adventure-filled, fantastically fun way.”
Taylor-Butler says she wanted to write a book that didn’t stereotype African-American children. She wanted to write
a book that would empower them.
“When you look at black kids and how they’re treated in society, they are warriors with no war to fight,”
says Taylor-Butler, who is married and has two children. “I wanted to write a book where they are heroes.”
Heroes like Taylor-Butler, who is proof that hard work and dedication pay off. She grew up in Cleveland, Ohio with little
money. But that didn’t stop the 46-year-old author from chasing her dream. She graduated with two degrees from Massachusetts
Institute of Technology: Civil Engineering and Art and Design. She climbed the corporate ladder at Hallmark for 11 years.
In 1999, she decided to pursue her life-long passion.
“I went to a children’s writers seminar at The Writers Place,” Taylor-Butler says. “I was hooked.
I quit my job two weeks later.”
And she’s never looked back.
“It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”
