Barnes & Noble Announces Free August Storytime Lineup

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the nation’s largest retail bookseller and the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products, today announced its August lineup of free Storytime events for children and families, all designed to celebrate the joy of reading, creativity and fun. The events center around the popular children’s books Pete the Cat and the New Guy by author and illustrator James Dean; My Pet Book by award-winning author/illustrator Bob Staake; a Hometown Hero Storytime featuring Cars, Trucks and Things That Go by author/illustrator Richard Scarry; a Back-to-School Storytime featuring Peanut Butter & Cupcake by Terry Border; and the August Storytime en Español, Que duermas bien, pequeno tren (Sleep Well, Little Train) by Sherry Duskey.

The month kicks off with Pete the Cat and the New Guy. On Monday, August 11, at 11 a.m., stores nationwide will celebrate reading via a free event for children ages 3 and up featuring James Dean’s picture book story about having friends who are different.

Participants will also enjoy a reading of the NOOK Book® version of the story. With children going back to school or heading to a new school, this story will comfort anyone who might be a bit nervous. Popular children’s character Pete the Cat shows how fun school can be when you take the time to become someone’s friend, even someone who’s different from you.

My Pet Book – On Tuesday, August 19, at 11 a.m., stores across the country will host a free Storytime for children ages 3 and up featuring My Pet Book by award-winning author/illustrator Bob Staake.

The picture book tells the story of a boy and his most unusual pet—a book! Books make the perfect pets, but when it goes missing, a lively adventure is in store for readers who love a happy ending. The tale will also be enjoyed on NOOK.

Hometown Hero featuring Cars, Trucks and Things That Go – On Saturday, August 23, at 11 a.m. in stores nationwide, children will enjoy Richard Scarry’s terrific tale about things that move. As the pig family heads to the beach for a picnic, they encounter almost every kind of transportation vehicle imaginable, from the forklift to the locomotive, and many vehicles that are not as common, from the pumpkin car to the broom-o-cycle. Will Officer Flossy catch Dingo? Will Rollo Rabbit catch his runaway steamroller? With hundreds of things to look at, youngsters will enjoy trying to find Goldbug on every page. Many Barnes & Noble stores will invite a local hometown hero to the Storytime to read this title, which includes many of the vehicles local hometown heroes drive. Children may meet a local firefighter, police officer, professional or Olympic athlete, teacher, principal, celebrity, newscaster or head of a local charity.

Back-to-School Storytime featuring Peanut Butter & Cupcake -- On Tuesday, Aug. 26, at 11 a.m., in stores nationwide, Barnes & Noble is celebrating back-to-school with the picture book Peanut Butter & Cupcake by Terry Border. Starting school can be challenging, but Peanut Butter and Cupcake make finding new friends fun. Toddlers will love the mismatched pairings as Peanut Butter searches for his soul mate. More back-to-school stories and activities follow.

Cuentacuentos: Storytime en Español - During August at select Barnes & Noble stores only, children and their parents can experience a reading of the Spanish-language picture book, Que duermas bien, pequeno tren (Sleep Well, Little Train), a sweet bedtime story for imaginative children by Sherry Duskey. The dream train chugs into the station and all the animals rush to the tracks to help unload the goods. While the polar bears are putting the ice cream in the refrigeration car, the elephants are filling the painting tanks with their trunks, and even the turtles and kangaroos are eager to join in on the fun. Activities and word practice will round out the event.

Language learning through immersion-style events is key to the Common Core Standards and other curriculum programs. Barnes & Noble’s Spanish Storytimes will appeal to parents who want their children to learn a language and native Spanish speakers looking to enjoy their language and increase their children’s vocabularies through listening to stories read aloud.

Barnes & Noble Storytimes are free and open to the public. To discover more, including dates and times of the new Spanish-language Storytimes, visit the Barnes & Noble Store Locator.

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS) is a Fortune 500 company and the leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products. The Company operates 661 Barnes & Noble bookstores in 50 states, and one of the Web’s largest e-commerce sites, BN.com (www.bn.com). Its NOOK Media LLC subsidiary is a leader in the emerging digital reading and digital education markets. The NOOK digital business offers award-winning NOOK® products and an expansive collection of digital reading and entertainment content through the NOOK Store® (www.nook.com), while Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC operates 700 bookstores serving over five million students and faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States.

General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained by visiting the Company's corporate website: www.barnesandnobleinc.com.