How 'Book Queen' Dolly Parton inspired millions of children with gift of reading - BBC News

Families across the globe share how free books from Parton's Imagination Library helped their children.

Image caption, Dolly Parton first launched Imagination Library in her home county in Tennessee

One child in Denver called her "The Book Queen".

Another in Alabama calls her "Ms Dolly".

Across the globe in Australia, a toddler with speech delays delighted her family with her first word - "orange" - after she and her twin sister received a free book in the post about colours. It came from Imagination Library, the literacy programme begun by late global superstar Dolly Parton.

Parton, who died this week aged 80, launched the philanthropic effort in 1995 to honour her father - whose difficult Appalachian upbringing never allowed him to finish school or learn to read and write.