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. 

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The radio-controlled copter craze suffered a bit of turbulence when the market was flooded with cheap imitations, the kind of plastic toys that you bought, flew into a wall, and never played with again. As the toy industry moved on to look for the next trend, Borgfeldt Canada decided to try to fix things. They developed the Litehawk, a copter made with CNC leight weight metal (not plastic), added a gyro-stabilizer, and turned out one of those well-made, crafted toys that are the darlings of hobbyists. The little Canadian copter has done really well and now in another touch of creativity, the company has released a "Flight School" air course you can use to, y'know, actually do something with your copter. 

One of those overlooked gems from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, 360kid.com snagged this video report of new Hot Wheels technology coming out later this year. The Mattel Video Racer places a tiny camcorder inside the toy car and an equally tiny view screen in the undercarriage. Press the record button and send the car off and speeding and the camera will record the journey from the driver's point-of-view. You can play the video back on the tiny screen or connect it up to a computer to share with your friends. An accessory will allow you to mount the car on a helmet, bike, or skate board so you can also use it to record your own action adventures. Very cool, should be one of the hot toys for 2011. [More]

The thought of a little girl falling asleep with a baby wooly mammoth, an animal that went extinct 10,000 years ago, over the traditional bear or doll really appeals to me. As a society we've reached a better understanding about our impact on the environment around us and programs such as Planet Earth and BBC Life have given use a unique perspective on the true diversity of animals that exist outside of the usual lions, tigers, and bears we know so well. Hansa International is a company that specializes in making realistic plush animals and most specifically, in featuring the exotic species the other companies ignore. 2009 is the first year their products have been made available in Canada and since I first met with them in January, I've watched them make their way into toy stores and science shops across the country.

The Masquerade is an annual night of cosplay culture at Fan Expo Canada and true to the record numbers the show received during the day, the nighttime celebration attracted so many participants, over seventy performing groups, that it ran over two and a half hours in length. A testimony to the show runners and their hosts, there wasn't a tedious moment and the packed house was still ready for more even as the night drew long. [More]