Dolly Parton announced this week that she’s releasing a new album this Fall–but it will be a first for her legendary career. The project, called I Believe In You, is Dolly’s first album written and recorded for kids and those young at heart. All 14 tracks on I Believe In You were written and performed by Dolly herself. Not only is the music on the album special, but if you buy the album, Dolly is making sure that all the proceeds are going directly to her Imagination Library, which was launched 20 years ago, and has seen 100 million books get into the hands of children, with many more to be helped.
I Believe In You Track Listing
- I Believe in You
- Coat of Many Colors (new recording)
- Together Forever
- I Am a Rainbow
- I’m Here
- A Friend Like You
- Imagination
- You Can Do It
- Responsibility
- You Gotta Be
- Makin’ Fun Ain’t Funny
- Chemo Hero
- Brave Little Soldier
- Bonus track spoken audio: Coat of Many Colors (book read by Dolly Parton)
A digital release of the new album on Dolly Records/RCA Nashville will be available September 29, whereas the physical album will street worldwide on October 13.
And just in case you want a little more info on the program that is near and dear to Dolly’s heart…
Since its beginning in 1996 in Dolly’s hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee, the Imagination Library has expanded into four countries serving more than one-million children by providing a brand new, age-appropriate book each month. In North America, every child’s first book they receive is the classic Little Engine that Could.
Founded in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a book gifting organization that has, to date, mailed more than 100 million books to children in Australia, Belize, Canada, United Kingdom and the United States. Each month, the program currently mails more than one million specially selected, high-quality, age-appropriate books to registered children from birth until they start Kindergarten in participating communities. Dolly 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 positively and significantly associated with higher measures of early language and math development. Penguin Random House is the exclusive publisher for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
50 years after releasing her very first album, Dolly Parton has another first in her career by releasing her first album for children, called I Believe In You. (:22)
“I know! Isn’t that amazing that I’ve never had a kids album…and you know, it’s about time. I really just wanted to put together the songs that we write for the Imagination library, and then all of a sudden we thought, ‘well, I’ll add a few more extra songs. A few things to it, and just go ahead and put it out.’ So, I didn’t have a tour coming up, and I wasn’t planning a big musical album, so I thought this is the perfect timing for it.”