Hello Book Bums families!
This week in the newsletter we are celebrating Dolly Parton. While you may know her as a performer and theme park owner, she has contributed so much to literacy in America. Dr. Christy also shares ideas for using music to promote reading and writing skills.
Keep reading for a special invitation to the newest Book Bums location!
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Word of the Week
acclaim (uh-klaym) noun/person, place, or thing - high praise
After a childhood living in poverty, Dolly Parton's songs brought her wealth, awards, and acclaim.
Literacy Calendar
- September 25 is Dolly Parton Day.
- The date was chosen as a play on her famous song "9 to 5" because the date can be written 9/25.
From our Bookshelves
Dolly Parton was one of twelve children raised in a single-room cabin in East Tennessee. Though her family had very little money when she was growing up, Dolly treasured her mountain memories and often shared them through her music.
Dolly recorded the lyrics to her song “Coat of Many Colors” in this beautiful children’s book of the same name. The story is about a time when money was especially tight, the weather was getting colder, and Dolly’s mother lovingly sewed a coat for her from the scraps someone had given to their impoverished Appalachian family.
Dolly shared that she felt “as rich as she could be” when she wore her coat of many colors, because as her mother was sewing she’d shared the story from the Bible about Joseph and his coat of many colors. The book goes on to share Dolly’s surprise when some of the more well-to-do kids made fun of her coat. She said,
But they didn't understand it
And I tried to make them see
That one is only poor
Only if they choose to be
Now I know we had no money
But I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors
My momma made for me
Made just for me
Wordology Workshop
- The Latin root for mountain is mont.
- You can find this root in words like mountain, mount, promontory, and Montana.
Tips for Families
I read a statistic the other day. It said that if you read just one book a day to your child, they will have experienced 1825 books by their fifth birthday, and that every book counts.
By now you probably know that Dolly Parton began a program called The Imagination Library. It’s a book-gifting program that mails free books to children, every month, from the time they’re born until they begin kindergarten. Parton started the program as a tribute to her father who had not attended school. She shared, “My daddy couldn't read and write and that always troubled him and bothered him, so I wanted to do something special for him . . . So, I got the idea to start this program and let my dad help me with it, and he got to live long enough to hear the kids call me the ‘book lady.’” She said, “It's so important to me because if you can teach children to read, they can dream, and if you dream you can be successful.” Parton called the Imagination Library “one of the most precious things” she’s done in her life.
Sign up for home books: Register eligible young children (birth to age five) for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Ohio to get a free book delivered to your mailbox every month.
I was never much of a Dolly Parton fan, but a few years back, during an interview, someone asked me, “Who do you believe is one of the most influential people in the literacy world?” I heard myself say, “Dolly Parton.” So many experts, today, fuss and argue about how to best teach kids to read; but not many folks are actually doing anything about it, while Dolly Parton’s program gifts over three million books to children every single month! (When I posted the original post back in 2023, it was two million books a month).
Quite a while back, I heard about a podcast called “Dolly Parton’s America” on NPR. I thought it’d be worth checking out, and boy was I captivated. I’m not a folksy, country music lover, but I fully appreciated each of the nine episodes. You might want to check them out, too, so I’ve included a link below.
Listening to the podcast, I learned that the anti-apartheid activist, Nelson Mandela, was a huge Dolly Parton fan, and he often listened to the 1974 song, “Jolene” during his 27-year imprisonment.1974 Dolly singing “Jolene”
Of course, no one could forget the song “I Will Always Love You” performed by Whitney Houston, but I much prefer “I Will Always Love You” performed by Dolly Parton herself. As I read through the comments on a website comparing the two versions, I agreed with so many of the responses.
Whitney's version has the power. Dolly's version is pure honesty.
When Whitney sang this song, you could feel it resonate in your bones. With Dolly, it resonates with your heart.
Whitney's cover is like a declaration to the world. Dolly's version is like a whisper of love into your ear.
When I hear Whitney sing this, I marvel at the power and brilliance of her voice. When I hear Dolly sing it . . . I cry.
What do you think?
I’ve added some of my favorite (more recent) songs below.
"God Only Knows" with King & Country
"There Was Jesus" with Zach Williams
"When I Get Where I'm Going" with Brad Paisley
Tips for Raising Readers and Writers
Dolly did many incredible things with her 80 years, but one of her greatest talents has been songwriting. So, I thought I’d share here some ideas you might use to promote songwriting with your kids. Many literacy-focused skills can be exercised when writing song lyrics. Kids can learn to write drafts, experiment with rhyme and repetition, rehearse and perform their work, and more.
Check out the full article from Reading Rockets here: https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/activities/articles/songwriting-kids
Did you know that reading lyrics while listening to songs has been shown to improve reading fluency? Sometimes kids can get “stuck in a rut” with their slower reading rates. To accelerate the number of words they can read per minute (without actually timing them), try printing the lyrics to some songs your kids love and invite them to sing along.
A word of caution:
The preference will always be reading with prosody over fast reading. Prosodic reading is reading like the author intends the story to be read. Sometimes it’s fast, and sometimes it’s slow. We want our kids to match the context of the story.
In picture books, like the wonderful Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Willems, authors make some words bigger and some words smaller to direct kids as to how the words are to be read. In books for more sophisticated readers, authors direct our reading with paragraph breaks, punctuation, word use, word selection, and more. It’s a bit of an art, but it can and should be taught.
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Practical Grammar
It’s likely you’ve already heard so much about the extraordinary life of Dolly Parton, but I had so much material all ready to share that I couldn’t resist honoring one of my heroes once again.
President Trump ordered flags at the White House, federal public buildings, military posts, and U.S. facilities abroad to fly at half-staff. The tribute began on August 25, 2026, and lasted through sunset on September 1, 2026. Lowering the national flag for a private citizen who never held public office is a rare tribute. Most multi-day national half-staff honors are reserved for heads of state and major public officials, however the following five people have been honored in this way.
Cultural Icons and Private Citizens Honored Nationally
News from Book Bums
We’re finally hosting a Grand Opening on Saturday, October 17, 2026, from 2-3:30 p.m. at our Monroe location (675 East South Street, Monroe, OH). You’re invited to join us for a ribbon cutting and some fall fun. We’ve been working with some wonderful students already, and our space is almost all ready, so we’re finally inviting you to come check it out. We’ll have sweet treats, some fall-themed activities for the kids, and some door prizes.
Tips for Teachers
Today, apps are being created to teach kids to read with no physical books necessary.
Ugh. If you want to take the life out of learning to read, leave it to digital books and apps.
Teachers, if you want kids to love books read them books (not just videos and apps), give them physical books to read on their own (not just a website), and encourage them to write their own books (and stories and songs).
Just for Fun
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