Yes, you read that right. Perhaps you, like myself, have laid Dolly Parton to the side of the road somewhere in your past... but here is one reason that you should know that she is way more awesome than you think.
It's simply because of her
Imagination Library.
All residents of Tennessee, who are of ages birth to 5, can sign up to take part in her Imagination Library. The library, in turn, mails each registered child a book, tailored to their age, every month. It's still an expanding enterprise, but they have currently over 686,000 children registered for the program.
You all know how I love books. I think they're the doorway to the imagination, keep us young inside and especially in younger children, books can help them understand, cope and imagine their way through all of life's most complicated questions. When my daughter had trouble sleeping in her own bed, we read books about being afraid of the dark and growing up, when she potty trained we had about a half dozen books about the potty alone, and more recently we've added books about friendship, manners, and being mad. Even when we aren't reading with our children, I often find them curled up in beanbags "reading" by themselves.
Dolly Parton, you are awesome. I tip my hat to you and I am so very jealous of your program in Tennessee. If I were rich, I would do the same thing here in Iowa. :)
