On a Thursday at the end of January, Patagonia resident Joe Ciofalo was enjoying his weekly visit to The Quail Covey coffee shop. As usual, he brought a book to read while he enjoyed his coffee.
There were several other people in the place, including mothers and their children playing in the children’s corner. In other words, a typical morning at the Covey.
When photographer Shannon Dudley arrived, her dog, Charlie, naturally attracted the children’s attention. As little Robert, age 1, toddled toward Charlie, his sister Violet, then 2 1/2, noticed Ciofalo sitting at his table with his book and brought one for herself.
“She put the book up on the edge of the table and looked at me,” Ciofalo said. “It was a big book – like a novel that her mother was reading.
“So I knew that Violet wasn’t actually reading it,” Ciofalo continued. “She looked at me, and I said, ‘Hi, do you want to join me?’”
Without saying a word, Violet took her book and climbed onto the other chair at Ciofalo’s table. She started flipping through the book like she was reading it.
“I was just amazed,” Ciofalo recalled. “Violet kept going through her book for about maybe five minutes. She didn’t really look at me much, and I didn’t look at her. We were just quiet. She read her book and I read mine.”
Meanwhile, Dudley was watching the scene and sensed a special moment was happening. She discreetly snapped a couple of photos from her chair. “I saw Violet climb up into the chair and then open one of Joe’s books as if she was going to pick up on the page where she left off,” Dudley recalled.
“I love that our town has so many different generations and I’m grateful for places like the Covey that give us spaces to connect,” she continued. “When I saw that moment, I just had to take a photo that encapsulated what a special town we get to live in.”
When Violet’s mother, Genesis Murillo, noticed Violet at the table, she first asked whether the girl was bothering Ciofalo. He assured her all was well, and Murillo let the scene continue. “Violet was content and happy to be there. She’s an independent little girl. If she’s happy doing something, I’m not going to interfere,” Murillo said.
When it was time for the family to leave, Ciofalo thanked Violet for the nice time, and said he hoped to see them again.
After the family left, Dudley showed her photos to Gianna Luna, owner of The Quail Covey. “Awww, how cute!” Luna thought. “That is exactly the kind of moment we want to happen here.”
Reflecting on the encounter later that night, Ciofalo was struck by how unusual it was in today’s culture. A young child confidently climbs into a chair next to a stranger, and matter-of-factly mirrors the act of reading a grown-up book. Her mother does not interrupt.
“It’s very strange to have a girl that young come up to a man of my age and want to interact with him, whether it’s through talking or playing with a toy or something,” Ciofalo said. “But with a book, that was extremely unusual.”
Ciofalo has written a number of children’s books in the past.
His reflections on the vignette started to spin into storytelling mode.
“I woke up – literally woke up at 3 in the morning – and started to put a story together based on what had happened at the coffee shop,” Ciofalo said.
Three months later, the tale has become “Rosie’s Wonderful Discovery at The Quail Covey,” a self-published children’s book now available at The Quail Covey and Patagonia Trading Post. The character of Rosie is based on Violet, and Berty is Rosie’s little brother.
Ciofalo started writing children’s books when he, his wife, Gretchen, and their young kids were living on a farm in Cañon City, Colorado, where he is from. “We had two children, and a four-acre farm. We were growing our own vegetables, and I had time on my hands,” Ciofalo recounted. “Gretchen asked me, ‘Why don’t you try to write a children’s story for our kids? I bet they would like that.’
“I had never thought about doing that. And so I said, all right, I’ll give it a try,” Ciofalo continued. “I wrote a story called ‘When You Wish Upon a Pizza.’ Gretchen tried to illustrate it some, and we thought it was pretty good.”
The family ended up moving to New Jersey about a year later. Joe and Gretchen tried shopping the book to publishers in New York City – and found out how competitive that market is. But Ciofalo kept writing stories over five years when he was a stay-at-home father. Over time, they accumulated in a box in the attic.
Some 35 years later, Gretchen brought one down and had it self-published as a Christmas gift for Joe and the family. After learning the process of self-publishing, they brought several of Joe’s stories back to life in book form.
By 2016, Joe and Gretchen were ready to leave New Jersey winters and head back west. They had visited Gretchen’s parents in Tucson over the years, and first landed in Tubac. After discovering Patagonia during their travels in the area, they decided the town was a better fit for them, with its strong sense of community and caring. They moved here in 2023.
That sense of community is what draws Joe to The Quail Covey every week. In fact, that’s why he put Covey founder Gianna Luna’s name with his on the front cover of “Rosie’s Wonderful Discovery.”
“I think of Gianna as a co-creator of the story, because she brought the Quail Covey space and atmosphere to life, where magic moments like Violet’s and mine spontaneously happen. So I wanted her to have creator credit for the book, too.”
Copies of the book arrived at the Quail Covey in April, as the cafe celebrated its first anniversary. The story affirms the success of the Covey’s children’s corner, which was a founding pillar of Luna’s vision for the café. “I needed a children’s space to keep my own kids occupied while I’m here,” Luna said. “It was the first part of the room that we set up.”
“The park and the Covey are the two places in town where my kids can play,” Murillo said appreciatively. “We come here often.”
“I’m also happy that the children’s corner has become a mothers area as much as for kids,” Luna added. With a play kitchen and plenty of toys and books to keep the children engaged, “it’s beautiful that the mothers can just sit and talk.”
The Patagonia Public Library has the book as well. The staff hopes to put it up on the Storybook Walk in the Town Park sometime soon.
Several of Ciofalo’s other children’s books also can be found at Patagonia Trading Post.
Though he had written many children’s stories, Ciofalo says that “Rosie’s Wonderful Discovery at The Quail Covey” is his first with a theme of books and reading. “It’s so important for kids to interact with books and understand that they can be a companion to you, even if you’re alone at a table,” he said. “That’s the message I want to leave with young readers: A book can be your friend.”