The tube-lipped nectar bat is the pollinator of a pale, bell-shaped flower found in the Ecuadorian cloud forests. First discovered in 2005, the bat is the only known pollinator of a pale, bell shaped flower called Centropogon nigricans . Due to the length of the bloom, no other animal can reach the nectar which rests at the flower’s base. This is the story of one such bat and her nocturnal search for this rare flower whose nectar sustains her.

Carly Allen-Fletcher is a freelance illustrator living and working in the Midlands, UK. She studied Illustration at Loughborough University. Her work explores the combination of digital painting and traditional media, creating images by layering graphic shapes with painted textures and handmade elements. She is inspired by nature and geometric forms. She has illustrated Theseus and the Minotaur and Children’s Classic Bible Stories for Quantum, division of Quarto, and in 2015 she won a silver prize (1,000 pounds) from the UK Association of Illustrators in the “London Spaces and Places” category. Carly is also the author/artist of two board books, Goodnight, Seahorse and Goodnight Forest. View her work here: http://carlydraws.com/

Gordon McMillan is an artist and writer living near Nashville, Tennessee who looks at everything from board games to textbooks as sources of inspiration. He is the author/illustrator of the children’s book Scout, published in 2021.