Dolly Parton arrives at the 53rd annual CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Dolly Parton Announces Online Bedtime Stories Series

Country music icon Dolly Parton will take her Imagination Library initiative, which makes sure needy children get free books, a step further with the Thursday (April 2) launch of Goodnight With Dolly, a 10-week series of bedtime stories starring Parton as the "book lady."

"This is something I have been wanting to do for quite a while, but the timing never felt quite right," Parton said in a press release. "I think it is pretty clear that now is the time to share a story and to share some love. It is an honor for me to share the incredible talent of these authors and illustrators. They make us smile, they make us laugh and they make us think."

Children's books announced for the video series include The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper, There's a Hole in the Log on the Bottom of the Lake by Loren Long, Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney, Pass It On by Sophy Henn, Stand Tall Molly Lou Mellon by Patty Lovell, Violet the Pilot by Steve Breen, Max & The Tag-Along Moon by Floyd Cooper, Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña and Parton's own I Am a Rainbow and Coat of Many Colors.

Storytime videos will be posted weekly on the Dolly Parton's Imagination Library YouTube channel beginning April 2 at 6 p.m. CST.

The series targets children at a time when their lives have been disrupted by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

"Dolly hopes this series of stories will provide comfort and reassurance to coping kids and families during the shelter-in-place mandates," reads the news release announcing the series.

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Since the program launched in 1995 in Parton's home county of Sevier County, Tennessee, the Imagination Library has delivered over 135 million books to kids.

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