Even when we’re traveling, Katie and I are always in the lookout for literary connections – we’ve been to charming historic towns, unusual houses, legendary locations, natural areas, volcanic landmarks, and the Shire! This summer, Katie visited Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and discovered Dolly’s fantastic literacy initiative, the Imagination Library. Take it away, Katie!
Steel Magnolias. “Jolene.” 9 to 5: The Musical. “Islands in the Stream.” Coat of Many Colors. What do all of these things have in common? The amazing Dolly Parton, of course! While she is most famous for her incredible music career, Dolly is also an author, actor, and founder of the most ticketed attraction in Tennessee, her theme park appropriately named Dollywood. Her proudest achievements, however, involve her philanthropic desire to give back to others, particularly in the area of literacy.
Inspired by her father’s inability to read and write, Dolly founded the Imagination Library in 1995 to instill a love of reading in children. Kids enrolled in the Imagination Library receive a new age appropriate book, free of charge, that is sent directly to their homes from the time of their birth until they enter kindergarten. Dolly wanted children to experience the magic of books and be excited to read, regardless of where they lived or their family’s income. Since its humble beginnings, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has gifted over 250 million books. One in seven children under the age of five in the United States receive books from the Imagination Library!
The program became so successful in the United States that it expanded and is now available in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Republic of Ireland. Thanks to funding from Dolly and her community partners, over two million books are shipped each and every month to kids around the world!
Visit the Imagination Library to find a local program in your area and to learn more about this extraordinary resource. As Dolly says, “You can never get enough books into the hands of enough children.” We couldn’t agree more.
Our summer vacation to Tennessee was exactly what we needed this year. We spent a week with friends in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area exploring Great Smoky Mountains National Park, finding cold mountain streams to go fishing and swimming, visiting as many barbecue restaurants as we could find, and staying up way too late looking for fireflies and shooting stars. Some of us were even lucky enough to see a black bear!
No trip to Pigeon Forge is complete without visiting Dollywood. We spent the first part of our day keeping cool at the Splash Country water park. Later in the afternoon, we dashed over to the theme park to ride ALL of the roller coasters. And eat a loaf of Dolly’s world famous cinnamon bread. Dollywood was fully decorated for the annual Summer Celebration with fun bright colored kites and umbrellas waving overhead, gorgeous flower arrangements, interactive fountains, and plenty of butterflies. Definitely stay until the park closes so you can watch the drone and fireworks show – it’s spectacular!
If you’re interested in further literary adventuring, pack your bags and check out this post. And just in case you’re wondering…yes, Katie did bring me back a little present from Dollywood. And yes, it is awesome!
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s SUPER BIG MAN! Jadon, our high school summer intern, put together one of the most fantastic story times our library has ever seen, complete with jumps, landings, super poses, villains, a kidnapped Miss Katie, and flowing capes!
The superheros then received a shiny blue cape (a 20 pack on Amazon is $35). The capes were quite cute and fastened with Velcro. Fabric eye masks with elastic bands also came in the set, but we didn’t hand those out just yet. You had to earn the eye masks by completing all your super tasks!
When everyone had their shirts and capes on, Jadon took them through some superhero poses. Then he moved the gang on to power jumps (leaping over a soft block):
Next he demonstrated the classic superhero landing and invited the kids to try it too. We used a padded mat for safety. Just look at this perfect form!
Tell us a little about yourself!
Welcome to Brooklyn, and the lovely little studio space of illustrator Olivia de Castro! You might recognize her from 
Vibrant and full of color and characters, Olivia’s illustrations capture moments and interactions with tremendous joy and energy (check out her portfolio 
To start my day I always need a fresh mug of hot tea and a glass of ice cold water. If I don’t have at least 2 liquids on my desk at all times, I can’t get any work done! I work in mixed media and I start my illustrations with traditional mediums at my desk. My rolled pencil case includes a variety of tools that I can reach for in order to get the textures I want, including various watercolors, gouache, micron pens, colored pencils and markers.
