Barnes & Noble.com Online Storytime December Exclusive: Author Chris Van Allsburg to Read The Polar Express

Online Storytime Is the First Time Chris Van Allsburg Reads The Polar Express Out Loud

New York, NY – – Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller, today announced that author Chris Van Allsburg will read the classic children’s book The Polar Express for the Barnes & Noble.com Online Storytime program (www.bn.com/storytime). Beginning today, visitors can listen to this exclusive, first-time recorded narration by Mr. Van Allsburg of his children’s holiday classic.

Barnes & Noble.com will feature a The Polar Express page with a selection of holiday books and classic toys and the newly released The Polar Express NOOKbook. Barnes & Noble.com customers will receive a 45% discount on select items, for a limited time. To celebrate the Online Storytime, Barnes & Noble stores will feature The Polar Express on in-store displays for the month of December.

The Polar Express Online Storytime coincides with Barnes & Noble’s holiday in-store Storytime on December 10, 2010. Barnes & Noble stores across the country will celebrate the holidays by inviting children of all ages to put on their pajamas and “wind their way to the North Pole.” Cookies, hot cocoa, crafts and other activities are included in the Storytime event.

“Aside from the few times I spoke the words aloud while writing The Polar Express 25 years ago, this recording marks the first time I’ve read the story out loud,” said Chris Van Allsburg. “I hope it is as good as the many wonderful readings I’ve heard in classrooms around the country and that it puts readers, young and old, in the mood for the magical holiday coming their way.”

A monthly feature, Barnes & Noble.com’s Online Storytime is perfect for children ages two through six and showcases favorite children’s books read by well-known authors and celebrities. To enhance the Storytime experience, illustrations and artwork are brought to life through pan-and-scan technology. Previous selections have included Fancy Nancy: Bonjour Butterfly read by author Jane O’Connor; Judith Viorst’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day; Ian Falconer’s Olivia read by SNL alum Ana Gasteyer; Where the Wild Things Are read by Maurice Sendak; and most recently The Mitten read by Jan Brett.

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS), the world’s largest bookseller and a Fortune 500 company, operates 717 bookstores in 50 states. Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, also operates 637 college bookstores serving nearly 4 million students and faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States. Barnes & Noble is the nation’s top bookseller brand for the seventh year in a row, as determined by a combination of the brand’s performance on familiarity, quality, and purchase intent; the top bookseller in quality for the second year in a row and the number two retailer in trust, 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, which also features more than two million titles in its eBookstore (www.bn.com/ebooks). Through Barnes & Noble’s NOOK™ eReading product offering, customers can buy and read eBooks on the widest range of platforms, including NOOK eBook Readers, devices from partner companies, and hundreds of the most popular mobile and computing devices using free NOOK software.

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