From RodeoHouston to the silver screen: How Dolly Parton touched Texas<\/a><\/p>\nDriven by her father\u2019s inability to read or write, Parton created the Imagination Library. The literacy program mails a free, age-appropriate book every month to registered children from birth to age five.<\/p>\n
From \u2018Dirt Poor\u2019 Roots to Global Empowerment<\/p>\n
Raised as one of 12 children in rural East Tennessee, Parton described her family as \u201cdirt poor\u201d and often spoke warmly of her working-class upbringing and the strong values her parents instilled in her. <\/p>\n
Her signature hit \u201cCoat of Many Colors\u201d detailed how her mother lovingly sewed together scraps of fabric so she could stay warm, instilling a lifelong respect for hard work, family pride, and self-worth.<\/p>\n
Singer-songwriter Dolly Parton’s book “Coat of Many Colors” will be the 100 millionth book that Imagination Library donates to the Library of Congress collection at the Library of Congress, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018 in Washington. The Library of Congress and Imagination Library also announce a story time for children on the last Friday of each month in the Great Hall of the Thomas Jefferson Building from March through August. (AP Photo\/Andrew Harnik) (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n
Beyond her 100 million record sales, 11 Grammy Awards, and Hollywood classics like 9 to 5 and Steel Magnolias, Parton maintained total ownership of her song catalog and financial independence in an entertainment industry traditionally dominated by male executives.<\/p>\n
How Houston Families Can Access Dolly\u2019s Literacy Legacy<\/p>\n
To honor Parton\u2019s mission of empowering working families through education, her foundation continues to mail free monthly books to toddlers across Houston.<\/p>\n
How to sign up your child in Greater Houston:<\/p>\n
Submit Registration: If eligible, enroll any child from birth up to their 5th birthday.<\/p>\n
Receive Free Books: A brand-new book will arrive by mail every month at zero cost to your family budget.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Houston, TX \u2013 Dolly Parton, the trailblazing country superstar, songwriter, and philanthropist who rose from poverty to build…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[145332,145327,145330,145328,145329,56,58,57,145331],"class_list":["post-417079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-country-music-icon","tag-dolly-parton-books","tag-dolly-parton-literacy-program","tag-dolly-parton-texas","tag-free-books-for-children","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-imagination-library-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=417079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}