His message was one of perseverance.

As Kevin Gard presented his children’s book, “Oh Sully!” to students Friday at South Colby Elementary School, he stressed patience.

Gard designed the cover of his book along with its words and illustrations.

“We talked about mistakes,” Gard told the crowd. “I didn’t get it right the first time. I had to work and work at it.”

The illustration on the cover was Gard’s third rendering. He showed the students his previous design — some stated they preferred it — but Gard said the camera flash made the picture “not look super clean.”

Many authors hire an artist to produce their illustrations. But Gard prefers that role. The 40-year-old Huntington Beach, Calif., native, who relocated four months ago with his family to Allyn, studied art at California State University, Fullerton. He also was an apparel designer among several different careers.

“The picture making definitely is the funnest part,” Gard said.

Words are not always easy. After all, Gard was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was in fourth grade.

“It was rough as a kid,” said Gard, noting that he repeated fourth grade. “I was the odd kid out.”

Those challenges never stopped Gard from pursuing his ambition. It is a message he conveys through his book, where the main character is a whale who desires to imitate several species of birds he travels with.

“The story is a moral-based,” Gard said. “It’s about being yourself and who you are — and trying not someone else.

“My whole thing is I love to create. I love to write. I love to make stuff.”

Gard said that vision accelerated after the birth of his first daughter. He does not remember how the idea of “Oh Sully!” came to him, but he contemplated the idea for five years before he began the project. Once he began, Gard said the book took about a year to produce.

The 40-year-old Gard said he regularly runs ideas past his daughters, who range from 4 to 9 years old, and are avid readers. He is working on another book related to Sully along with another project. Gard said he “would love” to produce 10-15 children’s books.

In 2012, he started his own publishing company, “Tree Swing Press.” Gard believes that affords him freedom.

“For each book that is sold we donate a book to a child in need,” he said. “I couldn’t facilitate that with my book elsewhere.”

Gard’s next endeavor will be to promote his literacy campaign called “Border-to-Border,” which runs from the Canadian to Mexican borders. He aims to sell 1,500 copies of “Oh Sully!” for $20, which will enable him to donate just as many.

And wherever those books end up, Gard hopes a simple message resonates with young readers.

“In general, I want them to love literacy and love the creative process,” he said. “That’s what I’m all about.”