It's a nocturnal adventure as a bedtime story. Burton & Isabelle Pipistrelle: Out of the Bat Cave will be the first children's book published by the Royal Ontario Museum. Crafted by their own in-house creative staff the book draws inspiration from the museum's most popular exhibit, the Bat Cave, for a night in the museum tale in which a little bat becomes lost within the halls of the large building and must use the power of echolocation to find his way back home. 

Last night author Denise Dias gave her first reading before a gathering of kids, and despite the evening hour and the shadowed halls of the museum, they were excited and engaged right to the end. It's unheard of for bats to find a positive role in a children's tale and so the museum, who knows well what remarkable creatures they are, emerge as the perfect storytellers to find what kids will like. Isabelle is depicted by illustrator Tara Winterhalt in jazzy, citrus pants while younger Burton (named after museum mammologist and bat expert Burton Lim) energetically bounces across the page in an "I Love Bugs" T-shirt. They have all the physical features of a bat that some find scary, but personalities so enthused and friendly that you can see them for the excitable, curious, and child-like characters they can be to young visitors. 

The 32-page book features large, creative depictions of wonderous exhibits including yes, the dinosaurs, but also the dazzling displays of the gems and international costumes.It goes on sale September 30th for $19.95 at book stores as well as the ROM's own shop which also carries a line of Burton t-shirts and other goodies inspired from the book.

Tara Winterhalt and Denise Dias sign copies of their children's book 

The temptation must have been there for the museum to simply hand off the task to an established children's book publisher and so the Royal Ontario Museum must be commended for drawing upon the talent within their own halls instead. Author Denise Dias is the museum's senior writer while illustrator Tara Winterhalt is it's senior designer. Together they have crafted a book as asuccessul in quality as any by other publishers, but with the unique charm and insight of the museum itself.