The incredible story of one of the winningest quarterbacks in college football history, The Stone Thrower by Jael Ealey Richardson gives us a glimpse into how it all began for her father.

When it was first published in 2016 unfortunately this book did not receive the publicity and the public push it deserves. What an incredible story of determination. In The Stone Thrower, Jael Ealey Richardson has adapted her writing from her memoir The Stone Thrower: A Daughter’s Lessons, a Father’s Life and brilliantly crafted a narrative perfect for our newest readers. She takes young readers on a journey from segregated Portsmouth to the football fields and her father’s path to success. I really enjoyed how the story ended on the football field which prompted us to then learn more about Chuck Ealey and his journey. I truly believe the best books make young readers thirst for more information and leave room for them to do their own further investigations.

I am revisiting this story now as the time has long since come to reexamine our bookshelves and look to our book choices ever more critically. Our children need to hear the stories of those who have set the path for them. We foster empathy in our children by ensuring they hear stories about those who may not share the same journey, who are joyful and who triumph. We should have known the story of Chuck Ealey long before now and our children should be experiencing this beautiful picture book at home and at school. As teachers and parents we need to provide more that just lip service to diversity. I issued a challenge to my co-workers, to come back to preschool in September with two new books to share in the classroom written by a Canadian author who is BIPOC or from a marginalized community and I am so excited by the choices I have seen so far. Teachers, parents, and librarians are the drivers behind children’s book sales and we need to use our buying power to let Canadian publishers know that our children expect and deserve better. They deserve high quality picture books, middle grade novels and young adult novels written by people from a multitude of backgrounds and experiences. We no longer need to be told these stories through the lens of a white author. Unfortunately the way publishing cycles work, we will likely not see these books for at least a couple years yet but I’m hopeful that change is coming.

Canadian publishers need to take a long hard look at whose voices they are choosing to highlight and promote. Canadian children deserve access to books written from a deep diversity of perspectives, written from the experience of those within diverse communities.

Jael Ealey Richardson is also the founder and Artistic Director of The FOLD and Fold Kids Bookfest literary festivals for diverse authors and storytellers. She has created an incredible space to highlight underrepresented voices and her team’s guiding principle when programming these festivals is “Who is missing?” We should all look at our bookshelves and as the same question.