Christopher Calhoun is an 11-year-old fifth grader at Oak Park’s Longfellow Elementary School with limitless interest, which has extended beyond the usual stuff 11-year-olds are fascinated by and into the world of publishing and writing.
“I started to write because I saw it as a means of being famous,” said Calhoun, who picked up his pen at the age of 9, deeply influenced by many of the stories his mother Chajuana read to him, such as Goosebumps and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He used the escapist fantasy of those stories to spark his own and began filling dozens of spiral notebooks with sci-fi, action and adventure tales.
Calhoun, with help from his enthusiastic mother, then ventured into publishing. He’s already got one book in print and is working on another.
“I saw writing as a way to get myself noticed in the world,” said Calhoun, who also attributes his insatiable desire to Living Word Christian Center in Forest Park, which he attended until second grade.
“I would get him spiral notebooks, and he would just fill them up with children’s fantasy stories,” said Chajuana Calhoun. “I knew it was important that I supported the development of his talent.”
One of his earlier pieces, titled, “Heading South of North America,” which has chapter titles and a full index, is about a girl who flees to Mexico to leave her broken home behind. The work showed more depth and literary flair than his previous efforts.
In his third year of grade school, Calhoun transferred to Longfellow Elementary. Shortly thereafter, he wrote a children’s story called “Heartland.” It received accolades from friends and school staff, his mother said, prompting her to look for information on getting it published.
“My mother happened to know a friend who would allow us the means of getting our story published,” Chajuana Calhoun said. “However, we faced several difficulties in the planning stage and eventually concluded that she was not the one for us.”
One of the difficulties was the publishing company’s insistence that they pay her $5,000 before she could begin marketing the book. Although there was plenty of support from Living Word to raise a thousand dollars, Chajuana felt there needed to be a way to distribute the book that would be more financially sound and allow her to control the marketing.
Chajuana concluded the best way to distribute her son’s work was to publish it independently. She decided to work with her son and start a business that would give them creative control.
Last November, they started Rainbow Publishing Inc.
Chris’ father, Reginald Hannah, taught him how to design his own web page, including his trademark, a computerized rainbow across a blue landscape. The company consists of several members of the Calhoun family.
Christopher writes the stories and serves as company founder. His father handles the finances and his mom handles the marketing while her sister Imani Hannah helps with the illustrations.
“He chose the publishing company name of Rainbow Publishing Inc. and designed the company website and logo,” said Chajuana Calhoun. “He really put his all into it.”
Her son, though, had to learn a few things before the company could get up and running.
“The most difficult thing about doing the web was saving the links of the page,” he said, “and I had a few problems with the text on the page as well, but after I got the hang of it, I was able to do the updating with no problem.”
Currently, the Calhouns are hoping to expand their market to Forest Park, Austin and the greater West Side as a way to inspire literacy for all children throughout the schools.
The Calhouns have been preparing appearances for Christopher at organizations like KidzExpress, located at 342 S. Laramie.
On May 14, Calhoun read to the nearly 100 area children the program houses every Saturday. He also read to the children of Mercy House, 4943 W. Quincy.
“It’s one thing for an adult to come to a class and talk to them about the importance of reading and literacy. They expect that, and they might tune them out,” said Chajuana. “However, if one of their peers says it, it takes on a whole new level of significance. They will see Chris as one of their peers and reason, ‘Hey, if he can write and get published, maybe I can too.’ They are more inclined to receive his message of literacy because he’s one of them.”
Chris said he would like to inspire children to become successful writers and publish their own books.
His first children’s book, Heartland, which focuses on an interplanetary competition between rulers to gain ownership of a third planet called Heartland, is currently available through the website (listed below).
“I hope to also begin working on a comic book story and eventually get into play and scriptwriting,” Chris said.
Chajuana isn’t worried that all of this activity could hinder her son’s development in other areas later in life.
“Absolutely not,” she insisted. “I think he serves as an example to other children who may be interested in writing.”
Christopher Calhoun’s website is www.christophercalhoun.com. The company website is www.rbpi.org.