Steven Layne Inspires Students at Long Beach Elementary

Writer and educator Steven Layne made his second appearance of 2012 in Boulder Hill on Tuesday, spending the day at . And he had a simple message for students there: you’re all authors.

Layne, director of the Master of Education Literature program at Judson University in Elgin, is the author of children’s books like Love the Baby and its sequels, but also the writer of several books for educators, including Igniting a Passion for Reading. Oswego School District teachers have been using that book to develop reading programs this school year.

Last month, Layne visited , and on Tuesday, he did the same for Long Beach. He gave three talks during the day, to three different age groups, and spent the evening talking to students and parents. An animated speaker, Layne kept students enthralled, especially when delivering (very) dramatic readings of his books.

Layne talked about his own process. He writes all his books with pencil and paper, he said, not on computers. He took students through illustrator Ard Hoyt’s different concept drawings for Love the Baby, from walruses to puffins to polar bears to seals to dogs, and finally to the rabbits that populate the books now.

Layne performed Love the Baby, doing all the voices, and drawing a lot of laughter. And then he read the third book in the series, Stay With Sister, released only a few weeks ago. He answered questions from students—one asked if it was hard writing stories, and Layne replied that it’s a lot of fun, except when he’s on deadline.

One student asked about his favorite hobby, and Layne said, “Reading.”

But Layne’s main message for his young audience was an inspirational one. Speaking to a group of kindergartners, first- and second-graders, he told a story about writing a story in the first grade. The teacher told him, “You are an author,” and it’s stuck with him ever since. An author, Layne said, is someone who writes, and everyone at Long Beach School is an author.

Wrapping up his speech, Layne gave out a homework assignment.

“Find a mirror, and look at yourself, and say this: ‘I’m looking at an author. I’m looking at someone who writes,’” he said.