Barnes & Noble.com Announces Letter Blocks

A Blog for Parents That Celebrates Children`s Literacy

Summer Reading Feature: Celebrity and Author Bloggers Share Favorite Summer
Reading Memories
NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world`s largest bookseller, announced
today the debut of the Letter Blocks blog on Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com). A
part of B&N Jr., Letter Blocks is intended for parents who want to get their
kids hooked on reading, and for anyone interested in children`s literacy. Letter
Blocks (www.bn.com/letterblocks) offers advice and family-friendly
recommendations, enlightening and heart-warming stories about young readers, and
insights from some of today`s top writers.

Through August, Letter Blocks will focus on summer reading for kids, with guest
blogs from authors and reading-minded celebrities. The Letter Blocks summer
reading series is an extension of Barnes & Noble`s 2009 Summer Reading Program,
which promotes reading outside the classroom and rewards children for reading
during the summer months. Celebrity guest bloggers will contribute narratives
covering a wide range of topics, including memories about the first books they
read, important reading milestones, their favorite children's books and how they
influenced them and how they get their own children to read. The poignant, often
funny stories will inspire readers to look back at their own reading histories,
and to evaluate the reading habits of their own children. The interactive summer
reading blog series will continue through August, and will be open for reader
participation.

The summer reading series kicks-off this week with blog posts and comments from
Rick Riordan, author of the bestselling "Percy Jackson & the Olympians" series
and the featured author in this year`s Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program.
Riordan, who is known for encouraging parents to read to and with their
children, blogs, "Your children are never too old to be read to, and any good
story is twice as good when it is shared aloud." His posts will include fun
facts including what his family is reading this summer, what literary character
he`d most like to be and much more.

Participating in the weeks ahead are bestselling authors including Kelly
Corrigan (The Middle Place), romance writers Christine Feehan and Christina
Dodd, Kate Jacobs (The Friday Night Knitting Club), "Sookie Stackhouse" creator
Charlaine Harris, thriller writers Joseph Finder and Ridley Pearson, as well as
Kristin Hannah, Chelsea Cain, Rebecca Wells, and many others.

Also scheduled to participate are entertainers such as comedian Michael Ian
Black, Julianne Moore, The Office`s Ed Helms, A-Team creator Stephen J. Cannell,
Indigo Girl Emily Saliers, and William Shatner.

Now in its 13th year, the Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program encourages kids
to read during the summer - a crucial time to instill a love of books in
children and create lifelong readers. Children who complete a reading journal
receive a coupon for a free book from among select titles at Barnes & Noble, and
are entered in a drawing to win a free, signed copy of The Last Olympian, the
final installment of Riordan`s "Percy Jackson" series. Additional information,
including interactive activities for children, is available at
www.BN.com/SummerReading.

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world`s largest bookseller and a Fortune
500 company, operates 777 bookstores in 50 states. Barnes & Noble is the
nation`s top bookseller in quality, and for the fifth year in a row, the top
bookseller brand, as determined by a combination of the brand`s performance on
familiarity, quality, and purchase intent, according to the EquiTrend Brand
Study by Harris Interactive. Barnes & Noble conducts its online business through
Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com), one of the Web`s largest e-commerce sites.

General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Internet by
visiting the company`s corporate website: www.barnesandnobleinc.com.

Barnes & Noble, Inc.
Carolyn J. Brown, 212-633-4062
Corporate Communications
cbrown@bn.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009