Kids’ Book Devoted to Marco’s Creative Mailboxes

The island’s many whimsical mailboxes have produced amazement, prompted smiles and elicited chuckles over the years. Now, they’ve also provided the creative spark behind a recently released children’s book that is set in the community. 

“Marco’s Magnificently Silly Mailboxes” is the title of the book penned by part time resident Beth Kreick. It’s the story of a little boy named Marco who’s visiting his Grammy on the island. Together, they join Ray the Mailman on a fun-filled jaunt around Marco to view some of the island’s animal themed mailboxes and learn about each of the creatures. 

Kreick is a first-time author and a retired high school teacher. She and her husband, Brad, have split time between Marco Island and their hometown, Nashua, New Hampshire for the last four years. Their five grandchildren, ages two through seven, live in the Granite State and love venturing south to visit the couple at their Tigertail Beach area home. During those stays, the customized mailboxes found along the city’s streets have captured the children’s imagination. 

“I spend a lot of time on my bike and in doing so I see a lot of cute mailboxes,” said Kreick. “When the kids have been down, they’ve loved them. They think it’s a real treat. They’re little so they love the animals. The manatees are their favorite. They’re something they’d see every day as we walked to the beach or wherever. I was always tickled by the fact this is a community that chose to mark itself that way with these mailboxes.” 

Along the way, Marco, Grammy and Ray the Mailman encounter mailboxes dressed up to resemble manatees, fish, pelicans, bald eagles, sea turtles, burrowing owls and other wildlife common to the island. At each stop, Ray shares information about each creature with Marco, who is delighted with just how “silly” each mailbox is.

The 36-page book is dedicated to the couple’s grandchildren: Ty, Poppy, Weston, Axel and Saylor, as well as a sixth, due to be born in February, along with “Ray Ray,” the youngsters’ pet name for their grandfather, Brad. 

Kreick received a degree in English from Providence College and taught the subject for 11 of her 20 years at her alma mater, Nashua High School. Like many people of a literary bent, she’d had passing thoughts about writing a novel, but nothing serious. That changed when the grandchildren came along, which led to the idea of writing something for children as a bucket list endeavor. 

“I had the idea about three years ago. I was bouncing ideas around,” she said. “I didn’t know if I wanted it to be a story where you learn a little bit about the animals, versus my other idea where Marco came down, everybody has the same mailbox where he lives, but here, everybody has a different mailbox, and sort of put in a ‘we’re all different, but we’re all the same’ lesson. But I went in another direction. I just thought it would be easier and more fun for the kids with the animals. 

Next, she had to find an illustrator. A niece recommended a friend, a young, Boston based graphic artist, Stephanie Harris, who turned out to be the ideal person for the job.

“She’s 23, just out of college and she had never done anything like this before,” explained Kreick. “I saw some of her work and I just knew she had the right vibe. It was as if she was inside my head. It’s exactly how I pictured it, the color, everything. She did a great job.” 

Kreick said a former student of hers is now a kindergarten teacher and she’s used “Marco’s Magnificently Silly Mailboxes” to illustrate how Christmas is celebrated around the world. 

“She’s used the book with her student to describe what Christmas is like for kids in Australia, because it’s warmer and these are the animals found in a warm climate. While I was so thrilled that she made that connection for her kids, the best part was one of my former students was able to share something of mine now with her students,” said Kreick. 

The book is available at both Sunshine Bookseller locations on Marco and she was blown away the first time she saw it sitting on the shelves. 

“I actually took a picture of it and said, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s my book,’ she recalled, with a chuckle. “It was gratifying. I’ve been retired for five or six years so it’s been a while since I’ve had that sort of fulfillment, aside from being the grandkids. It was nice.” 

Regarding whether there’ll be a sequel, well, that’s up in the air. 

“I don’t know if I do,” Kreick said about whether she intentions regarding a follow-up. “My idea was to think about Marco and what else he could do on the island. I could definitely go that way. I think I’ll just wait and see how this plays out. Again, it’s not something I’m doing to make a living. It’s just something I wanted to do for myself and my grandkids. So, we’ll see.”

“Marco’s Magnificently Silly Mailboxes” can be purchased at both Sunshine Booksellers locations (1000 North Collier Boulevard, Suite 14, and 677 South Collier Boulevard) as well as at magnificentmarco.com/.