In March 2008, Bolen Books and the Victoria Book Prize Society established the $5000 Bolen Books Children’s Book Prize. When the prize was announced, Mel Bolen, owner of Bolen Books, said,

“Children’s books are adjudicated for the City of Victoria Butler Book Prize and their quality and variety is acknowledged. However, we felt that it was difficult for the many fine children’s books published in the region to compete with adult literature. We hope to address this problem by establishing this prize.”