William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, he profiles Nia Obotette, author of “Exploring All I Can Do -- Hockey,” part of a series of four illustrated children’s books that she created to inspire children of color to try so-called “non-traditional” sports for their communities.
Nia Obotette says she became an illustrated children’s book author by necessity.
“I was looking for a book for my niece and couldn’t find one,” Obotette said. “And I came across a statistic that shows a lack of representation in picture books of characters of color, written by people of color, illustrated by people of color. I say ‘out of necessity’ because, for me, when I saw that statistic, it moved me to want to do something.”
That need led to “Exploring All I Can Do -- Hockey,” part of a new four-book series that Obotette authored to introduce young readers of color to so-called “non-traditional sports” for their communities and inspire them to try them.