Article by Jonathan Hooper and Veronica Lewis
Dolly Parton is a name seen and heard on our televisions, record players, CDs, and phone playlists, but she has a special place of honor on our bookshelves. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has made high-quality books accessible for young readers in ways that go far beyond sending stories in the mail. Dolly worked with partner organizations to provide books in alternate formats such as braille and audio that help to fill a critical gap in the availability of accessible picture books for young readers. Many of her books are also available in a variety of other accessible formats as well, including audiobooks narrated by Dolly herself. What a gift to children everywhere!
You can never get enough books into the hands of young children.”-Dolly Parton
For many children, Imagination Library provides their first braille books, forming a foundation for braille literacy that enables them to thrive in school and beyond, or their first audiobooks that inspire curiosity and a desire to read more and more. Dolly Parton’s literacy legacy goes beyond providing children with books; her stories have shaped countless lives and shown that there is more to reading than just looking at words on a page.
One of the best ways to celebrate Dolly Parton is to read a book, whether it’s reading print, braille, listening to audio, interacting with a story box, or with multiple modalities. Here is a list of options for finding accessible picture books that are Dolly approved.
About Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a free book-gifting program that mails one age-appropriate book each month to program participants from birth through age five, creating a personal home library before a child starts school. Books are selected each year by a committee of early childhood literacy experts and are published exclusively by Penguin Random House.
My Daddy told me the Imagination Library was probably the most important thing I had ever done.”-Dolly Parton
The Imagination Library was inspired by the experiences of Dolly Parton’s father, who could not read. However, he was described by Dolly as “the smartest man I have ever known.” Today, the Imagination Library has gifted more than 300 million books worldwide, including thousands of accessible books for children with visual impairments.
Related links
- Audio & Braille – Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
- United States Book List – Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library
- Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Helped Blind Child Learn To Read – YouTube
Braille Tales: Braille books from the Imagination Library
Braille Tales is a free program that provides six braille/print books from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library each year to blind and low vision children until the child’s sixth birthday; blind and low vision parents to children under six years old also qualify to receive accessible picture books, and titles are mailed bimonthly. Braille is embossed onto transparent adhesive stickers so the printed illustrations and text remain visible on the page, enabling readers to follow along visually or by reading braille on each page.
Let’s share this dream that all children should grow up in a home full of books.”-Dolly Parton
Braille Tales is administered entirely by American Printing House for the Blind (APH) and is available to children five years old and younger who live in the U.S. or its outlying areas. To qualify for Braille Tales, the child must be likely to use braille as their future reading medium, or the child’s parent(s) must be blind/low vision and use braille as their reading medium. Participants are not required to live within an active Imagination Library affiliate area and can sign up to receive free braille books on the APH website.
APH partnership with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library brings literacy resources to all students
Braille Tales was created following a 2008 campaign by the Tennessee Disability Coalition, who advocated for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to offer alternate formats for blind and low vision readers, which are now offered via APH. The first Braille Tales book was distributed in 2011, and over 10,000 accessible books are sent annually to families each year!
Related links
- Braille Tales | American Printing House
- The Tale of Braille Tales | American Printing House
- Braille Tales Brings Families Together and Broadens Access to Literacy | APH
Reading audiobooks from the Imagination Library
In addition to Braille Tales, APH partners with the Imagination Library to provide free access to unabridged audio versions of select Imagination Library titles each month. In order to access the titles, families will need to be registered with the National Library Service (NLS) Talking Book program, a free service from the Library of Congress that provides a specialized playback device for listening to titles. The playback device is about the size of a hardcover book and includes large tactile buttons with braille labels.
Families can access the APH/Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Audio Books web page to download available Imagination Library titles each month. A USB flash drive or blank NLS Digital Book cartridge is required for listening to downloaded content on the digital playback device.
In addition to the titles listed on the APH website, several Imagination Library titles are available through the NLS catalog and network libraries. Many titles are also available through BARD (Braille and Audio Reading Download), which provides instant access to digital braille and audio books.
Related links
Dolly Parton’s Billy the Kid books and audiobooks
Dolly Parton’s Billy the Kid Makes It Big
Billy the Kid is a French bulldog and “god-dog” of Dolly Parton who is the star of his own children’s picture book series! Dolly narrates three audiobooks in the series, which are available on several platforms, including OverDrive for libraries (which powers the Libby and Sora eReading applications). Billy The Kid titles are also available in several accessible formats on Bookshare for readers with visual impairments or other print disabilities.
Paths to Technology’s blog coordinator, Jonathan Hooper, will certainly miss Dolly dearly. However, so will his two French bulldogs, Sophie and Louie. These two pups are Dolly and Billy’s biggest fan. Dolly truly was the Book Lady for the entire family – even the four legged ones. Billy also has his own Instagram: @btkthefrenchie
Related links
- Dolly Parton’s Billy the Kid Makes It Big audiobook on OverDrive
- Billy The Kid Makes It Big on Bookshare
- Dolly Parton’s Billy the Kid Dances His Heart Out audiobook on OverDrive
- Billy The Kid Dances His Heart Out on Bookshare
- Dolly Parton’s Billy the Kid Comes Home for Christmas on OverDrive
- Billy The Kid Comes Home for Christmas on Bookshare
Read along with Dolly Parton: a curated YouTube playlist with read-aloud videos
As part of YouTube Kids’ reading month, Dolly Parton’s YouTube channel has a curated playlist of fourteen read-aloud and storytime videos, which includes a few Imagination Library titles. There are also two animated lyric videos: “I Believe in You” (the title track of her 2017 children’s music album) and “Coat of Many Colors,” which was adapted into a picture book and remains a staple of the Imagination Library book list. A video of Dolly Parton reading the “Coat of Many Colors” book at the Library of Congress is linked below.
Paths to Literacy posts with Imagination Library titles
- Making “Corduroy” Accessible to Readers with Visual Impairments
- The Snowy Day Lesson for Pre-K Students – Paths to Literacy
- Storybox: Adaptation of Goldilocks and the Three Bears
- Interactive Wheels on the Bus – Paths to Literacy
The seeds of these dreams are often found in books, and the seeds you help plant in your community can grow across the world.”-Dolly Parton
