Dolly Parton

Hello! My name is Dolly. I was born on a chilly day, on January 19th, 1946. I grew up in a cozy little cabin in the beautiful Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. I had a very big family, and we all loved each other very much. We did not have a lot of toys to play with, but we had something even better. We had wonderful music and happy stories to share. That was my favorite thing in the whole world!

Even when I was a little girl, I loved to make up my own songs. I would sing all day long! One of the songs I wrote is called 'Coat of Many Colors,' and it tells a true story from when I was small. My sweet mama sewed a special coat just for me. She made it from a box full of colorful scraps of cloth, and it looked like a rainbow. When I wore my new coat to school, some of the other children made fun of it. But I did not feel sad for long, because I knew my mama made that coat with love. That made it the very best coat in the world.

I have always loved to read books. Stories can take you to amazing places right from your room! I wanted every little boy and girl to have their own books to read and love. So, in the year 1995, I started a special program. I called it the Imagination Library. It sends free books to children all over the world. I am so happy to know that children are reading and dreaming big. I believe that if you can read, you can do anything you dream of!