Tina Turbin has always had a creative spirit and a special connection with children. She wrote her first children’s story at just 16 years old, never imagining how many different paths life would take her before she would return to that early passion.
Born in Hawaii, Tina’s life has been filled with adventure, creativity, and diverse experiences. At just three years old, she was featured in LIFE magazine alongside Bing Crosby’s family in recognition of her swimming accomplishments with the Red Cross. Over the years, she lived in England, Puerto Rico, and both the East and West Coasts of the United States. An avid horsewoman, athlete, and lover of the outdoors, Tina has always found inspiration in nature, travel, people and the world around her.
While raising her three children, Tina worked in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles, California, where she eventually founded Show Biz Kidz, a children’s consulting business and her own art studio. Through her work with local Hollywood studios and her staff, she helped young performers and their families navigate the unique challenges of growing up in the entertainment industry while maintaining healthy, balanced lives. Her dedication to children extended beyond her business and became a defining part of her life’s work.
Tina also became an author and lecturer, writing the Show Biz Kidz East Coast Guidebook to help families and young performers. Due to observation and familial experiences, her professional interests expanded into nutrition, special-diet recipe development, and health advocacy. She founded GlutenFreeHelp.info, which became an internationally recognized resource for the celiac community (website voted #2 in the world in 2009), and later created PaleOmazing.com. Both ventures brought her immense recognition and opportunities to collaborate with leading professionals, research emerging topics, and share information with people all over the world.
A Childhood Dream Becomes Danny the Dragon
After her children were grown, Tina returned to something she had always loved: making her dreams a reality, writing, art, and storytelling.
Danny the Dragon was a wonderful opportunity to bring together her love of children, imagination, creativity, and the magic of storytelling. Tina wanted to create something that would delight children while reminding adults that imagination, curiosity, and a sense of wonder should never disappear as we grow older.
Rather than follow the traditional publishing route, Tina chose to take an active role in bringing her vision to life. She personally searched in depth, interviewing for an illustrator, and eventually discovered Aija Jasuna, an exceptionally talented artist from Latvia. What began as a professional collaboration developed into a wonderful friendship. Together, they worked through the creative process to ensure that the illustrations captured the personality, spirit, and world Tina had imagined for Danny. Aija even created each of the characters out of Tina’s exact visions. The result was a book that Tina was proud to share with children and families.
Her commitment to reaching as many children as possible also led her to explore different formats, including hardcover, softcover, DVD, CD and online editions. She wanted children with different abilities and needs to have the opportunity to experience Danny’s adventures.
During book tours on the East Coast, Tina made time to visit terminally ill children in hospitals. Those visits became some of her most meaningful experiences as an author. One particularly memorable reading included an American Sign Language interpreter who signed the story alongside her for an audience of hearing-impaired children. Watching the children respond and connect to her story was a powerful reminder that imagination and storytelling can connect us in ways that go far beyond words. Tina was inspired even more.
That experience inspired Tina to take accessibility even further. She went on to create Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy, an innovative children’s DVD featuring sign language interpretation. This DVD was featured in Apple’s first ever iPad commercial and helped bring greater attention to accessibility in children’s digital media.
Danny the Dragon also received recognition from Creative Child Magazine, among other honors.
Life Beyond the Books
Today, Tina continues to embrace life as a lifelong learner, artist, entrepreneur, and adventurer. She enjoys drawing, sculpting, designing, hiking, exploring new places, and spending a lot of time outdoors. As a licensed decorator she enjoys continually finding new ways to express her creativity through furniture designs and remodeling homes, bringing the outdoors in and using natural fibers.
Her interests currently span a wide range of subjects, from art and design to nutrition, genetics, longevity, and lifestyle research. She enjoys learning from others, sharing the knowledge, building meaningful relationships, and supporting select nonprofit organizations focused on children, women, and older adults. Tina has volunteered over 20 years working in children and geriatric abuse.
Tina treasures her family, and the friendships and experiences that make life meaningful.
Her philosophy is simple: imagination, creativity, curiosity, and the joy of life and discovery should never have an expiration date.
And perhaps that is what Danny the Dragon is really all about.
Tina hopes that Danny continues to bring a little magic, a lot of smiles, and a lasting sense of wonder to children and families everywhere.
Explore More of Tina’s World
Visit Tina’s other websites:
TinaTurbin.com – Personal adventures, interests, and projects
PaleOmazing.com – Nutrition, recipes, and lifestyle
GlutenFreeHelp.info – Resources and information for the gluten-free and celiac communities. Voted #2 resource website in the world 2009
TinaTurbinDesigns.com – Design art website
