Hand-illustrated, bilingual, archival-quality children's books, commissioned for one family at a time. By the award-winning team behind Antigua's Amazing Sawdust Carpets.
Every Legado commission is bilingual (English / Spanish), hand-illustrated in watercolor by a Guatemalan master, printed offset in Antigua on archival paper, and bound in cloth-over-board. The tier you choose decides the scale of the story, not the quality of the craft.
A Legado commission is a relationship, not a transaction. Kim manages every file personally, from the discovery call to the morning your books arrive.
A two-hour interview with Kim Pitts, PhD. We capture the heart of the story: who the book is for, the moments that matter, the words your family already uses.
Manuscript draft, then a second draft after your notes. Spanish translation done by a Guatemalan literary translator, never by software. PhD review for cultural and historical fidelity.
Watercolor spreads, painted by hand in Antigua. You see pencil studies, then color tests, then final art at each milestone. The originals are yours if you want them.
Offset printed in Guatemala on archival 100-year paper. Cloth-over-board binding, foil-stamped spine, sewn signatures. We send you a single press-proof for sign-off before the full run.
White-glove drop-shipped to your home (or each recipient's home, if you prefer) in a custom presentation box with a handwritten note from Kim. Your books arrive the way a book of this weight should.
There are good companies in the custom-book world. None of them do what we do. Here is what the landscape actually looks like.
| Legado$15k – $50k | Mascot Books$5k – $10k | Greenleaf≈ $25k | StoryWorth$99 | Assouline Custom$100k+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who it's for | Families, philanthropists, estates commissioning a heritage children's book | Self-publishing authors of children's titles | Executives publishing English business memoirs | Adults wanting a printed Q&A keepsake | Brands, hotels, very wealthy collectors |
| Bilingual (EN / ES) | ✓ Standard on every tier | — Add-on, machine translation | — English only | — Single language | Sometimes, on request |
| Hand-illustrated (watercolor) | ✓ By 6 master illustrators | Stock or AI, occasionally hired | — Photography | — Family photos only | ✓ Photography & commissioned art |
| Award-winning press | ✓ ILBA Bronze 2024 | — | Industry awards | — | ✓ Art-book canon |
| Give-back to NGO partners | ✓ 4 Guatemalan NGOs | — | — | — | — |
| Print quality | Offset, archival, cloth-over-board, sewn | Digital, perfect-bound | Offset, hardback | Print-on-demand | Offset, hand-bound |
Vista Tranquila is small on purpose. Every Legado commission is led by Kim, reviewed by Wayne, and painted by an illustrator chosen specifically for the story you're telling.
25 years teaching, sociologist, author. Leads every discovery interview personally and edits every manuscript line by line.
Criminologist with a career in cross-cultural fieldwork. Reviews every manuscript for historical accuracy and cultural fidelity.
Six master watercolorists on retainer. Our Guatemalan printer produces at one-third US cost without compromising paper, ink, or binding.
Each illustrator brings a distinct hand. Kim matches the painter to your story so the visual register fits the emotional one.
Every Vista Tranquila page is hand-painted, not generated. Below: each artist at her desk, mid-commission, in the place the story is from. Photographs commissioned annually by the press.
Antigua, Guatemala
Antigua's Amazing Sawdust Carpets · The Magical Skies of Sumpango
A watercolor study for the sawdust-carpet spread, painted from a sketch made on Calle del Arco the morning before Easter.
Guatemala City
Tikal Animal Adventures
Inking the canopy lines for the Tikal cover. Désirée works in India ink first, then layers watercolor over the dried line.
La Palma, El Salvador
Fernando Llort Painting La Palma · La Palma: Coloring the Alphabet
At the easel in the family studio. Daughter of Fernando Llort, painting the rooftops her father taught a town to paint.
Totonicapán, Guatemala
Chita, the Famous Chicken from Toto
Sketching Chita the hen at the Totonicapán market. María keeps a sketchbook on her lap and draws from life.
Names and identifying details are withheld at the client's request. The shape of each commission is real.
Because the book will outlive a single language environment in your family. Grandchildren marry into other languages, immigrate, raise children in countries you can't predict. A bilingual heritage book stays legible across a family tree, not just within one branch of it.
It also opens the door to schoolroom use through our NGO partners. Many families like that their book is read by other children, in other languages, long after the family edition is shelved.
Yes. You own the manuscript, the illustrations, and the publishing rights. We retain the right to display thumbnails in our portfolio (with your permission) and to keep one archival copy in our Antigua studio.
If you want to reprint additional copies later, we'll quote the press run at cost. Most families come back for a second printing around year 10, for the next round of grandchildren.
Sometimes, in the Patrimonio tier. We've collaborated with a teen grandchild who painted endpapers and a title-page motif under one of our master illustrators' direction. It worked beautifully because the structure protected the child's contribution.
We won't replace a master illustrator with an untrained one, because the book has to hold up at a 50-year reading. But there is real room for a family hand on the page, if you want one.
Yes, and we love it when families do. Kim or our studio manager will host you in Antigua for a day at the studio (see the watercolors being painted, meet the illustrator on your book) and a press visit. Several families have built a multi-generation trip around the visit.
The visit is included at the Patrimonio tier. At Cuento and Crónica it's a small add-on.
This happens, and Kim has handled it before. We pause everything the day we hear, give you the space you need, then walk you through the choices: hold, adjust the tone, add an afterword, dedicate. We've delivered books that became memorials and books that stayed celebrations. Both are right.
There is no penalty for pausing. The commission carries forward at your pace.
Personal family commissions, no. Commissions where the book is donated to a 501(c)(3) (school library, foundation programming, NGO partner distribution), partially yes. Foundation commissions paid by the foundation are typically program expense.
Kim will walk you through which portions of your specific commission qualify, and we'll provide the documentation your accountant needs. We are not your tax advisor.
Yes. Cuento delivers in 6 months from kickoff, Crónica in 8, Patrimonio in 10 to 12. These are not best-case marketing numbers — they're what we plan to. The most common reason a project runs long is the family taking extra time on a manuscript draft, which we welcome.
We will tell you if a date is at risk the week we know, not the month after.
Tell us the date in the discovery call. We've delivered Cuentos in four months for a 90th birthday and a Crónica in six for an anniversary gala. We do it by tightening the review windows, not by cutting corners on illustration or print.
Rush surcharge is 15%. We'll be honest in the call if we don't think the date is achievable, rather than take the commission and disappoint you.
No obligation. Most calls become proposals within five business days. Kim will ask about the family, the recipient, the occasion, and the budget you're working with, and tell you honestly which tier fits.
If a commission isn't the right fit, she'll tell you that too, and recommend where to go instead.