I appreciate the diversity of the authors and in the characters depicted in illustrations for the stories selected every month.

I want to tell you that I’m that mom who takes my kids to the library at least once a week to wander the aisles in search of new books and engaging stories to discover.

I have a girlfriend who does this. I wish I could. But I simply can’t find the time. Instead we went twice about four months ago and I recently received a bill for $120 because we haven’t returned the books. They have been well-loved though. But not returned.

Thank goodness for Dolly Parton. Through her Dollywood Foundation and her Imagination Library, she runs a children’s book program that delivers free books to your home, once a month, with selections based on your child’s age.

So I get free books, delivered to my home, that we get to keep. No late fees. Not even a shipping fee or an annual membership. Just books, free and clear. That’s better than Amazon!

And these are high quality books. The selection for May for my four-year-old was The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson, a cute story about a clever mouse who outwits a forest full of preying animals, including a monster.

“How am I supposed to turn the pages with socks on my hands?”

May’s selection for my two-year old was Rachel Isadora’s I Just Want To Say Good Night, a story about a little girl in an African Village who insists on saying good night to every animal she can find, while her parents try to coax her to bed. Sound familiar?

The back flap of the books offer great suggestions on how to engage your child as you read the story, thoughtful questions to ask, and even activities you can do to bring the story to life.

Scouting for new books at the library to take home. And never bring back….

As of June 2018, Dolly Parton has gifted 105.8 million books to families across the United States. The program is even in Canada, the UK, and Australia now and has registered 1.28 million children.

I signed up for the program at my local library. I bet they didn’t realize this program would make it even harder for me to get back to the library.

Enter your address here to find out if your county participates in the program and to sign up for free books.

Don’t thank me. Thank Dolly Parton!