Former Hononegah superintendent and son team up to release children's book

Lynn M. Gibson has launched a new children's book: How Elfie the Elf Owl Saved Christmas - A Tiny Hero’s Tale, the first of a series she created with her son Bryn Sheedy Gibson.

“This is a dream that now has become a reality,” Lynn Gibson said.

Lynn Gibson spent 14 years at Hononegah Community High School, six years as superintendent. She was also interim superintendent for the Paw Paw District. Prior to that, she worked in the Harlem School District for 14 years. Currently, Gibson is a university professor at Northern Illinois University where she coordinates and teaches in the Superintendent Preparation Program.

Bryn Sheedy Gibson has been around children’s books his whole life. He was born and raised in Rockford, Illinois. Growing up feeling tiny (but mighty!) inspired him to write about this powerful sentiment for children. He strives to help children receive great educations through his work in school finance. This is his debut into the world of writing children’s books, alongside his mother, Lynn. He hopes that his writing will help children look inward to find their true and best selves.

Lynn says she has come a long way from her early days of ditching kindergarten to working as a school district superintendent.

Lynn has read so many children’s books to her children and grandchildren that she finally decided to co-author her own children’s book with Bryn, one of her six grown children.

Lynn's love of the outdoors and hiking inspires her to write stories where children can see every step of life as part of one big adventure.

The entire process of writing the book began in April 2024. It took about a year from start to finish. This encompassed writing the manuscript, finding an illustrator, creating the website, and working with the publisher to design the book.

“We decided to go through ML Publishing. This allowed us to keep the rights to our characters and have greater creative control,” Lynn said.

Lynn adds, “We have always been interested in storytelling. Throughout our professional careers in education, we have always wanted to give more back to students and families, and we believe that this is one of the best ways to do it: create timeless stories with memorable characters. It’s part of the legacy of reading instilled in me by my parents, to whom the first book is dedicated.”

Inspiration for this book began a couple of years ago when Lynn's children gave her a book about the animals of the world.

“As I was leafing through it, I saw that there really was a tiny owl called an Elf Owl. I was telling my kids about it, and the idea for the book was born,” Lynn said. “Our son, Bryn, wanted to write it together.”

The story of How Elfie the Elf Owl Saved Christmas - A Tiny Hero’s Tale

“Christmas is coming! With more children than usual on this year’s Nice List, Santa is having trouble delivering presents because Rudolph has an ear infection from the Reindeer Games.

“Meanwhile, a young, Christmas-loving Elf Owl named Elfie, who is only as big as a juice box, is accidentally whisked away to the North Pole. She bravely volunteers to help Santa, in spite of her size, but can she save Christmas? Elfie just might show everyone that even the tiniest of heroes can change the world!”

The book is written for ages 3 - 8 and is best read curled up by the fire. Add sugar cookies and a blanket, and join Elfie, Santa, and the team at the North Pole for their first adventure. Learn some fun facts about Elf Owls and bake the simple sugar cookie recipe included in the book.

“The entire process of creating a book from writing to publishing is one that requires patience,” Lynn said. “You need to wear both a creative and a business hat to make it a success.”

The Gibsons reflected, “We learned lots from both aspects, how to create a great manuscript, allowing your illustrator creative freedom, and properly marketing your book so that it gets into the hands of as many children as possible.”

Lynn said, “We hope that kids will take away that it is a good thing to bravely volunteer to help others, even if they are uncertain of what to do. We hope that parents will take away that seeing their kids as 'Tiny Heroes' capable of doing great things in their life, and we want them to have a great time reading the book together.”

“Together we weave stories that not only connect generations, but also ignite imaginations,” Bryn said. “Our shared passion for storytelling allows us to create worlds where every word carries the warmth of home and the spark of adventure.”

Some of the challenges in creating the book included getting it down to a digestible word count and deciding what should be words and what should be illustrations. “There were a couple of scenes that had to be removed from the book that we really enjoyed,” Lynn Gibson said. “We understood the importance of properly putting together a 32-page book but it was still difficult. Those may show up in one of the other books in the series.”

She added, “It is important to consistently read and learn about the [publishing] process in order to stay on top of everything and to meet deadlines. This is an especially important lesson when you have your job and have other obligations going on.”

“The most meaningful part of the process is being able to see all of the strings tie together and the book landing in your lap,” Lynn said. “There is something truly magical that happens during this process of becoming an author.”

The Gibsons give this friendly advice: “Do what Elfie does and bravely volunteer to put yourself out there. Being creative is a difficult endeavor and can be rattling at times, but once you do, you will find that there is no other feeling like it.”

How Elfie the Elf Owl Saved Christmas - A Tiny Hero’s Tale is available on Amazon in paperback, ebook, and hardcover formats.

The authors can be reached through their Tales and Adventures Guild website at tag6tales.com or through their social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter. Free coloring pages have been added under the “Coloring Pages” tab. The book is available at https://tinyurl.com/ElfieTheOwlBook.

”The Gibsons express gratitude to Lynn's parents, Bryn’s grandparents, for everything they’ve done for us. We also thank our family for all of their support during this process,” the Gibsons said. “We want to thank our illustrator, Catherine Worsley, for creating the fantastic artwork for our book. We also wanted to thank the ML team for all of their help in making this book a reality. We are very excited to work with both again for our next book in Elfie’s series!”