It’s hard to believe that with 41 career Top 10 country albums – a record for any artist – Dolly Parton has never recorded a children’s album. Well, that’s about to change with the Oct. 13 release of “I Believe In You” a collection of songs written and performed by Parton, and created to both inspire hope and benefit Parton’s book gifting charity, Imagination Library. 

“My first album was released 50 years ago and it’s been an amazing 50 years since then,” Parton said. “I am very excited that now I’m coming out with my first children’s album in all of those 50 years. I’m proudest of all that all of the proceeds from this CD will go to the Imagination Library. It’s been 20 years since the Imagination Library was launched. We’ve seen 100 million books get into the hands of children and, hopefully, there will be many more.”

Parton announced the project at a press conference in Nashville that was covered by Rare Country.

The 14-track album will be available on Dolly Records/RCA Nashville, with a digital version on sale Sept. 29. Parton said she wrote the songs in a tree house she keeps on her property for her nieces and nephews to play in. The collection is meant to inspire, but it also touches on important issues confronting children including the anti-bullying anthem “Makin’ Fun Ain’t Funny” and a new recording of  “Coat of Many Colors,” which tells Parton’s childhood story of being teased about a winter coat quilted together by her mother with pieces of colorful fabric. 

Several songs are aimed at children going through health struggles, including “Brave Little Soldier” and “Chemo Hero,” the latter written for Parton’s niece.

All proceeds from the set will benefit Parton’s charity, the Imagination Library, which provides free books to children from birth to age 5. As Parton notes, the program distributed more than 100 million books to kids enrolled in the program since it launched in 1995 in her hometown of Sevierville, Tenn. Since then, the program has expanded across the U.S., as well as to Australia, Belize, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Parton envisioned creating a lifelong love of reading in children, preparing them for school and inspiring them to dream. Recent studies suggest participation in the Imagination Library is having a positive impact on early education development. Parton said she currently gives away 1.1 million books a month, in conjunction with Penguin Random House. The first book every child in North America receives is the classic “The Little Engine That Could.”

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