Tag Archives: Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

The Book Lady with the Voice of an Angel Has Left Us

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Yet Dolly Parton’s Life Changing Legacy Will Live On

She wasn’t able to have children of her own, yet Dolly Parton gave children all over the world one of the greatest gifts a parent can give. The love of reading.

So far over 300 million books are in the hands of children because of the dream she had, inspired by her father. “The smartest man I ever knew” who never learned to read.

Because of Dolly Parton’s mission to share love and light, “her kids” come to kindergarten ready and eager to learn to read.

I have a feeling the Imagination Library’s wild success is only going to expand mightily going forward.

After all, Dolly is up there singing with the angels now, and she has undoubtedly got the ear of the One who loves children as she does.

My deepest condolences go out to the wonderful people at the Imagination Library who have helped to make her dream come true.

On a personal note, I will be forever grateful to the president of The Imagination Library and Dollywood Foundation, Jeff Conyers, for his support for The Invisible Toolbox. When my agent reached out and invited him to read it in manuscript form for comment, he kindly said yes and then wrote a beautiful blurb that we used on the back cover.

I was beyond thrilled.

Then in 2021 I was invited to speak at the Imagination Library’s biannual Homecoming. That year it was virtual instead of its usual gathering in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, the home of Dollywood. But the upside of that was that volunteers from all over the world, from the UK, Canada, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland, were able to join in.

I’ve been an enthusiastic believer in Dolly’s mission for a long time. Her focus on getting books into the hands of children and their parents from the beginning of their little lives until they start kindergarten is brilliant.

Dolly was an incredibly smart lady who understood that the love of reading and preparation to learn how begins at the beginning, on the lap of a loving parent.

When it comes to declining literacy rates, it’s increasingly important that we take a close look at what children experience in their earliest years before formal school begins. The Imagination Library is destined to become more relevant than ever in addressing this.

Thank you, great lady, for pointing the way.

Homecoming 2021!

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A Virtual Vist to Pigeon Forge

Imagine this: a high quality picture book arrives in your mailbox each month with your child’s name on it, from the time you bring them home from the hospital until they begin kindergarten—absolutely free.

That’s exactly what Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is in the business of doing with the help of the Dollywood Foundation and countless affiliates around the world. To date, Dolly’s Library reaches several continents and has given away over 160 million books.

Reaching children with books during those critical 0-5 years when 90% of brain growth occurs has a lasting impact on a child’s ability to thrive.

This fact and the subsequent outcomes of doing so—or not—that I’ve observed in children over a long teaching career are what motivated me to write The Invisible Toolbox: The Power of Reading to Your Child from Birth to Adolescence.

An Exciting Invitation

So it was my absolute pleasure and honor to be invited to present at the Imagination Library’s recent Homecoming. My topic: what happens on the other side of kindergarten when a child has been read to consistently.

This biennial event usually gathers hundreds of Imagination Library affiliates from around the world in Dolly’s hometown of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. This year it took place virtually due to Covid-19.

An excerpt from “Why Reading to Your Child is One of the Greatest Gifts a Parent Can Give”

The Imagination Library is an organization for which I could not have greater respect and admiration.

Its mission is simple. Give parents an essential tool they need—books—so that they can share the joy of reading, fill their child’s invisible toolbox, and enable them to be kindergarten-ready.

Dolly Parton’s Dream

The genius of the program is that the book comes directly to the child. Their name is on the gift, and it arrives without fail in their mailbox each month. By the time a child begins kindergarten they’ve accumulated their own personal library.

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out The Library That Dolly Built: Celebrating the People Who Made Dolly’s Dream Come True, now available on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Google Play, and Cable on Demand.

You will be amazed and inspired by the story of how the Imagination Library grew from Dolly’s dream of helping the Appalachian children in her hometown of Tennessee into a worldwide enterprise for all children.

It’s a wholly uplifting story that will fill you with hope and remind you of what’s possible when people of good faith collaborate on a mission as important as this one.

Just be sure to bring your kleenex. You may need it.

“It may be small, but it’s mighty…”

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When I met my newborn book for the first time, it wasn’t love at first sight. I held the tiny tome* in my hand, eyeing it critically, wondering what people would think. Couldn’t she write a book with more pages? Would they think it lacked substance?

A smallish gift book was what I’d planned all along, a volume so not intimidating and so visually appealing that even the most reluctant parent reader would consider picking it up. But when my agent and I met with my editor and the company’s CEO last month via Zoom and learned that Mango had reversed their earlier decision and now planned to print The Invisible Toolbox in soft cover instead of hard, my heart dropped. I was not only disappointed; I was worried. Would a softcover gift book have the same appeal as hardcover?

Mango’s marketing department was concerned that titles comparable to mine were priced at a rate with which a hardcover book wouldn’t be able to compete. Like a wounded parent, I protested: But my book is unique! There isn’t anything out there quite like it. They weren’t moved. And so the decision was made. It was out of my hands.

“I wasn’t sure I could sell it. But then I couldn’t resist.”


When Federal Express left a carton of complimentary author copies on my doorstep this week, I called my agent. “It’s so little.”

She laughed. “Remember, I almost didn’t sign you because the book is so small. I wasn’t sure I could sell it. But then I couldn’t resist.” Julia believes in the message and understands what’s at stake. For her, it’s all about saving democracy. Maybe you’ve seen the meme: A child who reads will be an adult who thinks.

Thank you, Julia, for blowing away any lingering wisps of self-doubt. The Invisible Toolbox may be small. And it may even have a softcover. But its message is mighty.

* An oxymoron, I know, but I like the alliteration.