If you asked him for a kiss, he’d oblige.

But be careful. His owner, Tonia Godby, said he nibbles.

Fortunately, the boys and girls treated Wednesday to time with Frank the Camel during Market Place 5 Vacation Bible School reported his nibbles didn’t hurt.

“See. My arm. It’s red from where he gave me a kiss,” said Harber Williams, 9, who attended the VBS held at Hawkins United Methodist Church. “But it was still cool. It was my first time to pet a camel.

“He can turn his neck so far he can hit five people at one time,” he added.

“We try to keep the kids in front of him (for that reason),” Godby said. “If they touch his side, he won’t do anything but turn to see what touched him, but he takes up a lot of real estate.”

Frank, who was bought by Godby as a baby, was given a large chunk of sidewalk to stand and let each of the 180 children who attended VBS have their chance to pet him.

“I was excited because I was going to get to see a camel, and that’s not an everyday thing,” Lexie Whittington, 8, said. “His lips were purple on the bottom. He looked like he just ate a cinnamon roll.”

Julie Townley, program director at Hawkins United Methodist Church, said she wanted a surprise for the children, and this one happens to be a smelly surprise.

“We’re all going to need a bath,” she said, laughing.

Market Place 5 featured interactive booths, including candle making, arts and crafts and music and dance, for the children in attendance.

“Every room in the church is filled with something,” Townley said.

Although the market place is made of tents, the costumes each child wore and the pillows used to replace chairs added authenticity to the biblical time period of the VBS, Townley said. Frank was by far the biggest hit, and the children agreed.

Frank, who once fit in the back of a minivan, now stretches more than seven feet tall and weighs 1,500 pounds.

Godby said he is rented throughout the year for weddings, nativity scenes and, of course, vacation Bible schools.

“He’s done nothing but stand here and eat snacks all day, so he’s got it hard,” she said, noting he also got his favorite treat, a Coke.

“He won’t drink diet.”

Godby, who can be contacted at Frank Camel on Facebook, bought Frank after her mother wanted a camel for a nativity scene, and she discovered that buying a baby camel was as much as renting one.

“Most women run around with little Chiwawas,” she said. “I run around with a camel.”

Frank had others wondering about possibly buying a camel as well.

“He was awesome,” Thomas Kilroy, 8, said. “I wonder if you can order one off of Amazon Prime.”