Local teacher, author releases picture book about girls playing football

A local teacher has created a picture book about girls playing football. Alexandra Hoffman joined CTV Morning Live on Friday to talk about her book.

Nicole Lampa: A local author has released a picture book celebrating girls in football. That includes words of inspiration from women coaching in the CFL. Joining us is Alexandra Hoffman, author of Big Dreams. Thanks so much for coming here this morning. Now, what inspired you to create Big Dreams?

Alexandra Hoffman: I'm a big advocate and believer in inclusive literature. And there are kids that play football, girls specifically, that don't see themselves represented in picture books. That was the inspiration behind Big Dreams was giving them a book that showed them playing because there's no other books that exist right now.

Nicole: Why does inclusion mean so much to you?

Alexandra: I am not only an author, but I'm a teacher. So I've read 1000s of picture books. And I think it's so important for all children to see themselves represented in the books they read. And so if there's a gap in the market, they should be represented.

Nicole: Tell us more about this book, who is on the cover there and what makes her story so special?

Alexandra: This character is Gabby. And Gabby has dreams of playing football. And she doesn't see girls play in her local community. She doesn't see girls play on TV. And so she doesn't think that she can play. And she's inspired in the story to play and she ends up going and playing on the team and being kind of the star of the team.

Nicole: You mentioned you were a teacher. What was it like for you to read this book for your students?

Alexandra: It was really amazing. I had a chance to read the book in the spring. And it not only inspired the girls, but the boys like the kids at the end, were just saying, 'I can follow my big dreams. I can be like Gabby, that what a great book.' So it was really neat to see them enjoy the story.

Nicole: What age group is this book meant for?

Alexandra: Picture books in general and this book I would say are ages four to eight. So anywhere from kindergarten to Grade 3 is sort of the age for the book.

Nicole: At the back of the book there are words of inspiration. Tell us more about that.

Alexandra: While writing the book, I thought it would be really amazing to have actual women that were part of football, be in the book in some way. And so I connected with different women that are coaching professionally in the CFL. And they were all very eager to offer words. And so they have words of inspiration in the back. And the first woman who's ever coached full time in the history of CFL is in there. Tanya Henderson along with Nadia Doucoure from the Ottawa Redblacks, Emily Todd with Football Ontario. And then Taylor MacIntyre and she just switched teams but she was with McMaster University coaching, so the four women, they have words in there. And so that was really neat.

Nicole: What's been the response so far, not just from the children, but from the football community in Canada.

Alexandra: It's been really amazing. I've had parents reach out from different communities in Canada that say that their girls are still playing with the boys. There's no girls team for them. So they really appreciate the book. The women I mentioned and then other women that play football or coach football have reached out and said, 'I wish I had this book growing up, I would have loved to read something like this. Thank you for writing it.' And just people in general, a male coach said the future Caitlin Clark of football will read this and then one day go on to play football. So it's been really neat to hear the reception.