Free Children's Books from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library is a nonprofit organization that gives FREE - yes, FREE - books to children from birth to their fifth birthday. Funding for the program comes from community organizations who sponsor it.

Begun in Dolly's home county of Sevier in Tennessee in 1996, the program has helped to foster literacy to children around the world. Since 2006, more than 40 million books have been distributed to children. Currently, more than 625,000 children in the United States alone receive free books each month.

Now located in more than 1,600 communities, this program is available to children in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Information is available for starting a program in your community and to register a child.

All books are age-appropriate from birth to age five and are published by Penguin Group Inc. They are also available in Braille or in audio-book form for those meeting certain criteria.

During a child's first year, he receives simple and colorful board books that are sturdy and engaging. The first book every child gets is The Little Engine That Could.

Second-year books include a lot of repetition, real photos, letters and numbers and bright colors. A 2012 example is Llama, Llama Red Pajama.

Books for a child's third year introduce values, characters and issues of relevance for children today, such as Corduroy.

In the fourth year, children receive books about diversity and play, as in Ladybug Girl & Bumblebee Boy.

The fifth and final year includes books in preparation for school attendance and rhymes that are fun and entertaining. Owl Moon is a current 5th year title.

To see if your community participates, and register your child(ren) go to: https://usa.imaginationlibrary.com/register_my_child.php.

To start a program in your area, look here: https://usa.imaginationlibrary.com/start_a_program.php.