Correspondent photo / Susan Wojnar ... “The Littlest Ravioli” author Nicholas D’Alesio of Youngstown, left, stands with owner and manager of Jimmy’s Italian Specialties, Frank Occhibove, at D’Alesio’s book launch.

LIBERTY — A concentrated local combination of art, business and heritage was the key to the successful book launch of Nicholas D’Alesio’s children’s book, “The Littlest Ravioli” at Jimmy’s Italian Specialties on Belmont Avenue on Saturday.

The book’s opening line, “Once upon a time there was a pasta chef,” is a nod toward the Italian culture D’Alesio knows well.

“Both of my parents are Italian, and I grew up in the era when Italian pasta was homemade, especially ravioli. I can still remember my mom and grandmother making them on the counter all while teaching me how to do it. God, you didn’t want to make a mistake pressing the edges,” D’Alesio said.

Having the launch at an Italian food store seemed natural. D’Alesio approached Frank Occhibove, owner and manager of Jimmy’s Italian Specialities, in July to see if he would host the event. A mutual love of family and food helped seal the deal.

Occhibove, whose parents, Jimmy and Irene, immigrated from Italy and started their business in a garage on West Federal Street in 1974, said he immediately got behind the idea.

“When Nicholas told me what the sales were so far, I said, ‘We can do better than that,'” Occhibove said.

He thought a launch time closer to the holidays would be the most beneficial.

The book was inspired by two of D’Alesio’s sons, Lorenzo and Nicholas.

“My son Nicholas was having fun with Lorenzo while he was eating ravioli, and Nicholas made up a story to tell Lorenzo about the littlest ravioli. I was listening and thought ‘Wow, that could be a good children’s story book.’ We have a picture of Lorenzo eating that is pictured in the book. He has the greatest expression on his face. He enjoys eating,” D’Alesio said.

The story line revolves around a ravioli who is formed from a small bit of leftover dough. While on a journey to find Little Ravioli Town, he passes through and makes friends with the kind residents of Spaghetti Town, Rotini Town, Farfalle Ville, Elbow City, Penne Place, Zitti Ville, Rigatoni Town and Rotelle.

“The writing process was just thinking about books we have for our children, looking at books in stores and thinking about what the parents and children reading the book would like to see. My daughter is a teacher for the targeted age group so she was instrumental with the writing concept as far as how the book can be used to develop reading skills all while having fun with the characters, which was my main goal,” D’Alesio said.

The author said he would write down story lines to share with former Youngstown native illustrator Anne Gulfo, now of Austin Texas.

“Anne would do the design to fit the concept. We were always working for the ‘right feeling’ throughout the process. We wanted it to be connected to the characters but simple to follow and visualize. The flow was important as the character moved throughout the book,” D’Alesio said.

Gulfo said she got involved with the project through her club leader, Dan Bancroft, at YSUScape, who passed her name onto D’Alesio. Bancroft knew that Gulfo’s love of pasta and Italian heritage would make her a natural fit with D’Alesio’s concept.

Gulfo, who studied graphic design at Youngstown State University, said she has been drawing all of her life.

“My dad owned the Giant Eagle in North Lima and he would take me to work often, and I would be drawing on the styrofoam plates you use to package food,” she said.

On the style of the illustrations, Gulfo said, “I’m inspired by cartoons of my generation like SpongeBob and Adventure Time and thought of them when creating the main character. The Littlest Ravioli’s face is kind of like Finn from Adventure Time and he has a bow tie that pays homage to SpongeBob,” Gulfo said.

She expressed appreciation for her father Eugene Gulfo’s support and encouragement of her pursuit of art.

“I hope he is proud of me,” she said.

Also involved in the book project is Jennifer McDonough, 38, of Austintown. She runs JLM Knits, and designed and created the little yellow crocheted “raviolis” that are sold along with the book. On her chance meeting with D’Alesio, McDonough said, “I had a crochet booth set up at the Boardman Rotary Oktoberfest and Nick and his daughter Sophia visited my booth. We briefly chatted about the book and they took my card. A few days later, Sophia reached out via email and sent me a picture of the ravioli character. I worked up a pattern sample, we tweaked some details and then I began working on creating an original batch of 20.”

McDonough, who also has a private practice as a speech pathologist, joked about not being Italian.

“I should be. It’s one of my favorite foods,” she said.

D’Alesio expressed gratitude for the support of his family, especially his daughter Sophia who manages the website, puts together focus groups for the book and contributes to the overall project. The author also praised the commitment, skills and support of Occhibove, McDonough and Gulfo.

The book can be ordered online at http://the-littlest-ravioli.square.site. A coloring book and the crocheted character are available on the site as well. The book is also available at Jimmy’s Italian Specialities.