Paul Schreck holds a copy of his debut picture book, “Prickly Kisses,” featuring his rhyming verse story and the art of Victoria Marble.
Courtesy of Paul Schreck
In 1984, Paul Schreck was a new schoolteacher in Ohio, and enrolled in a continuing education class in children’s literature. The class required its students to write children’s picture books as their final projects. He struggled for days to think of a theme until he decided he should write what he knows.
Sporting a mustache and full beard, when he would kiss his young child before heading to school the daycare provider would squeal with delight, “Prickly kisses! Prickly kisses!” That phrase always amused him, so he set out to create a book about the trials and tribulations of a child being kissed by a mustachioed father. The rhyming-verse story quickly flowed from his pen.
The title of that first manuscript? “Prickly Kisses” of course. It was a big hit with his classmates and professor, but Schreck promptly put it in a literal filing cabinet.
“I didn’t know how to get a children’s book published! I thought children’s book authors were people like Arnold Adoff and Ezra Jack Keats and Judith Viorst. They’re not elementary school teachers in a small town in Ohio.“
Jump ahead to 2021. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, watching a baking show while riding an exercise bike, one of the contestants introduced himself as a middle school art teacher and a picture book illustrator.
Schreck immediately thought, “If anyone will get ‘Prickly Kisses,’ this guy will get it!” That contestant proudly wore a very large handlebar mustache.
Schreck briefly searched the Internet for an Instagram account, and found the young teacher/artist.
“I sent him a description of the manuscript and asked if he might be interested, and without hesitation he said I should send it.” Schreck typed out his original handwritten manuscript, added a few new verses to the text, and e-mailed the file. Within days the artist was introducing Schreck to his publisher’s editor and a contract was signed.
“It was like a dream,” Schreck said. “I never thought it would sell, certainly not that quickly!“
Supply chain issues caused by the pandemic delayed the publication process, and a new artist was assigned to the project, but Prickly Kisses finally made its debut appearance in April 2024. It is available on amazon.com, barnes&noble.com, and wherever books are sold.
