Lucky Diaz and his now 5-year-old daughter, Indiana, were at a Los Angeles park on a hot summer day in 2018 when he spotted the ice cream man — or, as he called him in his Mexican-American youth, the paletero man.
“Indiana was so overjoyed,” he said.
With a couple bucks from his pocket, the part-time Columbus resident bought the youngster a paleta, Spanish for basically an ice pop.
All was well and wonderful until Indiana accidentally dropped the treat on the ground. Unfortunately, Dad had no more cash on him and no wallet with him, either.
“Even before I could finish a sentence about having no money, he’s already grabbing another one for her for free,” Diaz said.
The simple kindness from the roaming salesman, whom Diaz estimates often struggles to make a living, moved the Dad to write a children’s story titled “Paletero Man.”
Soon afterward, wife and established author Alisha Gaddis offered a chill idea: She would relay the manuscript — the one about a boy searching for the paletero man in his neighborhood only to eventually discover the kindness of others — to her literary agent.
About a year later, Diaz took a call while shopping in Ikea when his picture book had been accepted by HarperCollins, among the top publishers in the nation.
“I was in shock,” he said.
That effort, released June 1, has been No. 1 at the local Viewpoint Books almost ever since Diaz did a reading and signing a few weeks ago at the independent, downtown Columbus store only blocks from his house.
The Grammy-winning children’s singer who wrote the song “Paletero Man” in 2017 took that appearance, a new concept for him, quite seriously.
“I was much more nervous reading to 50 or 60 kids in the grass outside Viewpoint than I have been singing to a stadium of people,” said the chuckling recording artist who has crooned with his wife to 10,000 people at Olympic Stadium in Beijing, China.
These days, when he walks family dog Django along Washington Street, he sees his book in Viewpoint’s front window and is still surprised.
Plus, in recent weeks, Viewpoint staff spun off a children’s downtown scavenger hunt linked to the story. Just the other day, the author passed a family doing the activity, oblivious that Diaz was the activity’s inspiration.
His new work includes Spanish words and phrases throughout, similar to the couple’s bilingual music on their latest disc “Crayon Kids.”
“The immigrant-style story really speaks to me with my parents being immigrants and U.S, citizens,” Diaz said. “I’m a transformative person. And I have a foot in Mexican culture and in American culture. And it’s important for me to make work that includes that.”
Gaddis laughed when asked who of the two is the better writer.
A children’s entertainment Emmy winner with her spouse, she has written stand-up comedy and TV and movie scripts besides her eight published books. Her latest book is one for stepchildren titled “She Loves Me All the Same.” But the woman who adores her spouse claims they are not the same.
“My husband,” she said, “is the best.”
