Nearly a year ago, The Costa Rica News followed a family story across centuries and continents in From Basián to Cartago, from Jaén to New York: The Saga of the Borbón-Pérez-Moreno. The article traced a journey through Spain and Costa Rica and into the lives of later generations.

That journey did not end with genealogical records.

It has now found its way into the pages of a children’s book.

The Magic Trunk of Andrés Borbón, by Costa Rican author Nidia Moreno, turns part of that historical journey into an illustrated adventure for young readers. At the center of the story are Dominique and Vivian, two girls who discover an old trunk and, with it, a connection to a past that began long before they were born.

The English edition is expected to be released in the coming weeks.

A Curiosity That Began at Ten

Moreno’s interest in her family history began when she was about ten years old in Costa Rica.

What started as childhood curiosity grew over the years into a search through family stories, names, historical references and genealogical records. The research eventually reached across generations and back to Spain, where part of the family’s documented history could be traced.

There is something fitting about where that childhood curiosity has led. A search that began with a ten year old asking questions has become a book intended to encourage other children to ask questions of their own.

Instead of presenting young readers with genealogical charts and dates, Moreno chose to begin with a story.

The result is The Magic Trunk of Andrés Borbón.

When Imagination Meets History

Dominique and Vivian, inspired by Moreno’s two daughters, begin their adventure with the discovery of an old trunk. What follows uses imagination to bring the girls closer to events and people from another time.

The adventure itself is fictional.

The history behind it is not.

Andrés Luis de Borbón y Mora de Fuentes was born in Jaén, Spain, in 1734. Historical research places him in the Royal Service before his journey to Costa Rica in 1763, where his story became part of a family history that continued through later generations.

The book keeps those two worlds, imagination and documented history, distinct.

Children can enjoy the adventure first. At the end of the book, a Historical Note introduces the real history that helped inspire it.

The Research Behind the Story

The historical foundation of the project draws on years of family research as well as published genealogical and historical sources in Spain and Costa Rica.

Central to that research is the work of Rafael Cañada Quesada, a historian, genealogist and chronicler from Jaén who devoted decades to researching, documenting and helping preserve the history and documentary heritage of his city.

Among his many published works, one became particularly important to this project. Los primeros Borbones en España: los de las casas de Basián, Board y Bussignac, published in the Boletín del Instituto de Estudios Giennenses in 1999, documents early Borbón branches in Spain and follows the family line to Andrés Luis de Borbón y Mora de Fuentes and Costa Rica.

Cañada Quesada’s work extended well beyond this particular genealogy. Over many years he researched the history and lineages of Jaén and contributed to the preservation of its documentary heritage, leaving behind a body of work that continues to serve researchers and families interested in understanding the past.

In an unexpected and deeply meaningful turn, Cañada Quesada learned about The Magic Trunk of Andrés Borbón shortly before his death.

Moreno had recently contacted him regarding the historical research behind the book. According to his son, José Salvador Cañada López, Rafael shared the message with his family and was pleased to learn about the project and the continuing interest in the history he had documented.

Shortly afterward, as this article was being prepared, José Salvador contacted Moreno with the news that his father had passed away in Jaén.

The timing gives the approaching publication of The Magic Trunk of Andrés Borbón an unexpected significance. Research Rafael Cañada Quesada carried out decades ago will continue its journey in a very different form, helping a new generation encounter a history that connects Jaén and Costa Rica.

On the Costa Rican side, the research also draws on historical sources including Lic. Marco Tulio Fonseca’s Muy cerca de mi tierra, published in 1978, which includes references to the Pérez Borbón family.

Together with family records and research gathered over the years, these sources helped establish the historical background behind the children’s story.

The purpose of including that history is not to turn a picture book into a textbook. It is simply to leave the door open for curiosity.

An old photograph, a surname, a story told by a grandparent or an object kept in a family for years can sometimes be enough to begin a much larger search.

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Dominique and Vivian: From Inspiration to the Page

The names Dominique and Vivian were not chosen at random. The two young characters were inspired by Moreno’s daughters, and some of their personalities found their way into the story.

Dominique Moreno also served as the book’s editor. A graduate of Manhattan School of Music and New York University, she began her professional career in music and performed as a harpist, including appearances with Grammy Award winning composer Billy Childs and actor Alec Baldwin. She later built a career in communications and media in New York.

There is a special connection in her role as editor. The daughter who inspired one of the book’s young characters eventually helped shape the finished story as an adult.

Vivian inspired the other young protagonist. Her own path has been marked by independence, leadership and an interest in helping others. Her international experiences began at a young age with a youth leadership summer program in St Andrews, Scotland. She later studied at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England, before completing graduate studies at Hofstra University in New York, where she earned a master’s degree in Cardiovascular Sciences and Perfusion.

Her next challenge is far removed from a classroom. On August 30, Vivian is scheduled to run the Sydney Marathon, carrying the same determination and adventurous spirit that helped shape the character who bears her name.

For Moreno, having both daughters inside the story in this way connects several generations: the history she began investigating as a child, the daughters who grew up hearing pieces of it, and now the children who will encounter it through a book.

Beyond One Family

The Magic Trunk of Andrés Borbón was also designed to continue the conversation after the adventure ends.

Along with the Historical Note, the book includes material for parents and educators intended to encourage conversations with children about family history, heritage and the stories passed from one generation to another.

And that is where the idea reaches beyond the Borbón name.

A child does not need an unusual surname or a centuries old genealogy to have a family history worth discovering.

“I hope the book encourages children to ask questions about their own families,” Moreno says. “Sometimes one name or one family story can lead to discoveries you never expected.”

For Costa Rican families living abroad, those questions can have an added meaning. Countries, languages and generations may change, but family stories can remain a connection to Costa Rica and to the people who came before.

The Beginning of a Series

The Magic Trunk of Andrés Borbón is planned as the first in a children’s series that will continue bringing together adventure, imagination and different aspects of Costa Rican history, heritage, culture and natural richness.

For now, the subjects of the future stories remain undisclosed.

The English edition of The Magic Trunk of Andrés Borbón is expected to be released in the coming weeks, with availability planned through Amazon and later through IngramSpark’s international distribution network.

A Spanish language edition, El Baúl Mágico de Andrés Borbón, is also in preparation.

The book has been assigned Library of Congress Control Number 2026906795 by the Library of Congress of the United States in Washington, D.C.

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A Story Still Being Written

When The Costa Rica News published the Borbón Pérez Moreno story in 2025, it looked back across generations, from Costa Rica toward Jaén and the family history that preceded them.

This time, the story is moving in the opposite direction.

A history preserved in names, documents and the work of people who took the time to research it is now being handed to a younger generation in a different form.

The passing of Rafael Cañada Quesada just as the book approaches publication brings an unexpected meaning to that transition. He spent years preserving pieces of the past. Now, part of the history he documented is finding its way to children who may one day begin historical searches of their own.

For The Magic Trunk of Andrés Borbón, that door opens with two girls, an old trunk and a question about what came before.

And sometimes, a question is all a story needs to begin.

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