Once Upon a Pizza - written by Gene Goldberg, Independent Author

Everyone loves pizza, but how was it invented?

Cheese and tomatoes falling from the leaning tower? Cartloads of ingredients crashing together? Or maybe someone slipped on a puddle of water, smashing the ingredients together? These zany stories tell several different ways the world's most delectable dish might have been created. The last is last is a retelling of the most accepted historical account of it's actual invention, slightly altered of course, to assure that it's in keeping with the humorous tone of the other stories.

Each story has different protagonists: Galileo's neighbor, a butterfly, a pot maker, a restaurateur, an arguing couple, a suitor, a youth leaving home, a glutton, and finally, the chef in Naples, Italy, who really did invent pizza. Just so you won't be too hungry after reading so much about tasty pizzas, there's a recipe.

Initial thumbnail for the front cover, with ideas on where the text will be positioned. The angle of the tower was layout feature that took it’s idea from slices of pizza and also added the height and lean of Pisa Tower. 

Character design was created initially to identify each protagonist, these also set the style for the rest of the book.