Sometimes, we already know the answers.

If I were to say there was a simple activity that had been shown to bring families closer together, to improve the relationships between parent and children, to markedly increase future career and educational prospects for those children AND to improve their mental, emotional and psychological well-being, it would seem borderline miraculous, wouldn’t it?

But it’s been there, all along. And many of us have been doing it just because it’s also one of life’s small, beautiful pleasures.

That activity? Reading to your child.

Today, Friday, January 27, is Family Literacy Day in Canada, “a national awareness initiative created by ABC Life Literacy Canada in 1999 and held annually on January 27 to raise awareness of the importance of reading and engaging in other literacy-related activities as a family. More than 1.5 million Canadians have already participated in the initiative since its debut. Taking time every day to read or do a learning activity with children is crucial to a child’s development. Even just 15 minutes a day can improve a child’s literacy skills dramatically, and can help a parent improve their skills as well.”

Over at TodaysParent.com, Kerry Clare has an article about the importance of storytime, and how you can bring it into an at-times too-busy life. It’s essential reading, full of wonderful and inspirational ideas, but don’t stop there. Today, make a point of reading. Read to your child. Read with your child. And make sure you take some time to read for yourself. Literacy is a family affair, and everyone will benefit!

Some of the more popular items we carry at Bolen Books are tie-ins to the Lego building toy, beautiful books that focus on characters or themes, approaches and projects. They serve as a reminder of just how wonderful Lego is, in case we, as adults, have forgotten.

Truly, is there anything more wonderful than Lego? The brightly coloured, minimalist blocks have been helping children build dreams for decades now, giving life to their innermost fantasies and allowing their imaginations to soar.

Few Lego creations have soared quite so high, however, as the recent project undertaken by two Toronto high-school students. With much planning, and months of weekend work, the teenagers successfully launched a Lego explorer into space. That plastic astronaut even brought back pictures and video of the trip.

Check out the Toronto Star story here for details. And don’t skip the embedded video: there are some shots — including footage of the spaceman with the curve of the Earth and the brilliant sun behind him — that are utterly breathtaking.

I don’t think there’s any question about it: we’re book boosters. We love books, and we do anything in our power to share that love with anyone we can.

There are some books, though, that give us pause. Books where we can’t help but ask: why? Why would someone write this? Publish it?

The good folks over at Buzzfeed have compiled a list of 24 books that made their eyebrows leap. Yes, these books really do exist.

What’s funny about this list though? There are several there that we’ve carried. One of which is a perpetual bestseller. Can you guess which ones have had shelf-space at Bolen Books? Can you guess which of these questionable books is actually an old favourite?

The Academy Awards nominations were announced first thing this morning, and like the Golden Globes last week, movies adapted from books rule the day!

Six of the nine Best Picture nominees are based on books, and Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris is drawn, in part, on Hemingway’s life in Paris. Here are the nominees!

Best Picture nominees


The Descendants
 (based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings)
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
 (based on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer)
The Help (based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett)

Hugo (based on the novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick)

Midnight in Paris (based, in part, on Hemingway’s life in Paris in the 1920s)

Moneyball
 (based on the book by Michael Lewis)

War Horse (based on the book by Michael Morpurgo)

So which film will win? Well, we’ll find out on February 26, but ultimately, it doesn’t matter. What you have here are six fine novels, each a unique reading experience. No matter how good or bad the movie, no matter whether it wins an Oscar or disappears unseen, no movie can change the book itself: we’ll always have that.

Who’s up for a “read the nominees” challenge?

Deep in the mists of the last century, Bolen Books sold, for a very short time, Customer Discount Cards. For a one-time fee, these cards provided a 10% discount on books, puzzles, games and other merchandise (though some restrictions applied). Hundreds of happy customers use their cards and get their discounts to this very day.

We stopped selling the cards before the turn of the millennium, leaving a generation of readers to wonder “Will I ever have a chance?”

The answer to that question is “Yes!”

Bolen Books is pleased to announce the return of our Customer Discount Cards, for a limited time only.

Beginning Friday, January 13, you can purchase one of these cards which will entitle you to a 10% discount on regular priced books, puzzles, games and other merchandise (some exceptions apply, including sale items, tickets, services, magazines, newspapers, mailing, special promotions, discounted books, charitable items, etc.). The cost is only $35 (plus tax), but be warned: this offer is both time-limited and limited in quantity: once the cards are gone, they’re gone. And who knows if they’ll return this decade!!!