• Age: 4 to 7
• Grade: p to 2

It was almost the first day of winter, and PK still has no skates to wear.

This time, PK waited impatiently for one more week before his skates arrived in the mail.

With a knock, knock, knock on the door, the mailman delivered the skates in a box. PK couldn’t wait to open it . . .

Little PK Subban loves watching hockey on TV with his father, and he can’t wait to finally go out and skate—just like his hockey heroes! With his mother’s help, PK orders a pair of black, single-blade, size 7 skates. Now he just has to wait for them to come in the mail.

So he waits.

And waits.

Every new delivery brings hilarity and dismay as PK receives skates in the wrong size, wrong colour, wrong style—even a box that is completely empty! All the while, winter approaches and poor PK is very eager to get out on the rink. Even as he wonders if he will ever get to skate, his love of hockey pulls him to the sport in funny, imaginative ways.

Inspired by Karl Subban’s son, NHL star PK Subban, The Hockey Skates is a story about maintaining perseverance and optimism through a series of comical misfortunes—all of which are brought to life by Maggie Zeng’s charming illustrations.

KARL SUBBAN has been a coach, a teacher, a principal and a parent for more than thirty years. Hailing from Jamaica, Subban didn’t play hockey until he moved to Canada as a child. He raised three NHL players, including the New Jersey Devils defenceman P.K. Subban—an Olympic gold medalist and one of the league’s brightest stars—and Malcolm Subban, a goaltender with the Chicago Blackhawks. Karl Subban is the author of the instant national bestseller How We Did It: The Subban Plan for Success in Hockey, School and Life, a must-read account of one of the sport’s most fascinating families.

Karl Subban's profile page

Maggie Zeng is a children’s book illustrator, graphic designer, concept artist, and animator.

Born in Montreal, she attends Concordia University and previously received the Outstanding Achievement Award in Applied Arts Technologies at Dawson College. Maggie loves making story-driven illustrations that convey a feeling of adventure and wonder through fun characters and magical environments. Her first picture book is This is the Boat That Ben Built.

Maggie Zeng's profile page