The School Bus Driver Who Decided Black Kids Deserved to See Themselves

Every morning, Taryn Robinson shows up for other people's children. She drives the route. She learns the names. She watches kids climb onto her bus carrying backpacks full of school days she'll never fully see.

But Taryn noticed something. The books those kids brought home didn't always look like them.

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What Representation Actually Costs When It's Missing

We talk about diversity in children's publishing like it's a solved problem. It isn't. A Black child can spend years in classrooms, libraries, and bookstores without finding a single main character who shares their hair, their culture, their face.

That's not an abstract concern. That's a kid learning, slowly and without anyone saying it out loud, that stories aren't really about people like them.

The absence of representation isn't neutral. It teaches children something — and what it teaches them is wrong.

Taryn understood this. Not from a publishing conference. From a bus route in Washington state.

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One Driver, One Decision, One Series That Matters

Taryn Robinson created the color-with-tee children's book series because she didn't want to wait for the publishing industry to catch up. She built something herself.

The books celebrate Black kids and Black culture. They're designed for children who deserve to color in characters who look like them, name characters who sound like them, and see their world reflected back with joy — not trauma, not struggle, just joy.

That's the part worth sitting with. Color with Tee isn't a lesson. It's a celebration.

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Why "Tee" Hits Different Than a Random Author Name

Taryn goes by Tee. That's not branding. That's what the kids call her.

There's something grounding about a school bus driver writing books for children. No literary agent told her there was a market gap. No focus group validated her idea. She just knew what she saw every day on that route — kids who were bright and curious and full of stories — and she decided to meet them where they were.

That authenticity comes through in the work. Color with Tee carries the voice of someone who actually knows children, not someone writing at them.

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The Gift That Doesn't Sit on a Shelf Collecting Dust

Parents and grandparents spend real money on gifts that get forgotten by Tuesday. A book that a child actually connects with — one where they see themselves doing something fun, something creative — that's a different kind of gift.

Color with Tee works for birthdays, holidays, classroom libraries, and the kind of thoughtful gift you give when you want a child to feel seen. It's the kind of thing a parent remembers buying. More importantly, it's the kind of thing a child remembers receiving.

Representation wrapped in creativity is one of the most powerful things you can put in a child's hands.

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Support the Work. Support the Vision.

Taryn Robinson didn't wait for permission. She drove her route, saw a need, and created something real for Black children and the families who love them.

If you've been looking for a gift that carries genuine meaning — something that celebrates culture, sparks creativity, and shows a child that their story matters — this is it.

​Shop the Color With Tee children's books and put something in a child's hands that was made for them, by someone who shows up for kids every single day.

Source: Interview with Taryn Robinson

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