The Chief of the Williams Lake First Nation will be releasing a follow-up to his award-winning children’s book this fall.
More than six years after launching his first book, Dipnetting with Dad, Willie Sellars and illustrator Kevin Easthope have teamed up once again to continue Little Brother’s adventures in Hockey with Dad.
The second book, Sellars said, is loosely based on his own family experiences with his children, Cash, Milah and Lewis, as well as his own family upbringing, and continues to promote and celebrate First Nations values, culture, and traditions.
While hockey may have quite a different feeling from dipnetting, Sellars said it is something most Canadians can relate to.
“And the neat thing about this story is that the lead character is a girl, and she’s a First Nations girl that gets to experience the big moment and be at the front,” he added.
“When we look at where the world is at today, women in sports, for example, don’t necessarily get the highlights, but the main character in this one is going to get them.”
Sellars called the illustrations by Easthope breathtaking.
It had initially been unclear if Easthope would return to illustrate, which he described as a labour-intensive process as he juggled additional post-secondary studies, work and starting a family with his spouse.
As Easthope, however, reached a balance where he believed he would have the time to take on another large project, it was not difficult for him to agree to sign on.
“In terms of being an artist, I like to focus on projects that I feel have real, long-lasting meaning and value,” he said.
“So it’s a great opportunity to be involved with a project such as this which I believe has that.”
“Hockey with Dad,” has officially been announced for a Fall 2021 release. Hats off to artist Kevin Easthope for the…
Posted by Willie Sellars on Wednesday, March 17, 2021
Easthope added it was a steep learning curve to capture the sport’s dynamic nature, which he enjoys playing and watching.
Hockey equipment is also challenging to draw accurately.
With pre-orders now available for Hockey with Dad, which will be released in the fall of 2021, Sellars already has his eyes on what his third book will entail as a series of children’s books has been long envisioned.
“I never thought I was going to be a bestselling children’s book author, but here we are with book two coming out, and it’s something that’s going to live a lot longer than I’m around for in this world.”
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