DOLLY PARTON'S MOUNTAIN MAGIC CHRISTMAS

Thanks Warner Bros Discovery Home Entertainment for providing ageekdaddy.com with a complimentary DVD of Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas

Stir up some hot chocolate, light a fire in the chimney and cuddle up with loved ones to enjoy a holiday season evening at home watching DOLLY PARTON'S MOUNTAIN MAGIC CHRISTMAS. This 2023 Emmy Award Nominee for Outstanding TV Movie features Country Music sensation Dolly Parton along with guest stars Jimmy Fallon, Willie Nelson, Billie Ray Cyrus, Jimmie Allen and Zach Williams. Available now on Digital and DVD. Rated: TV-G [Originally aired on NBC in 2022]

A modern day movie musical about the making of a network TV special, Dolly Parton's Mountain Magic Christmas is the frenetic backstage story and delightful on-camera results of Dolly's desire to uplift an exhausted world's spirits by sharing the unique "mountain magic" she has always found in and around Dollywood at Christmas. Throughout the movie's production numbers and rehearsal chaos, Dolly finds herself taking a private journey into her past, guided by the mysterious appearances of her personal Three Wise Men. When it is time for her big special to air live, a renewed and inspired Dolly goes rogue and shows the world that the real magic of Christmas lies in the heart of the children we all once were, the realization that Christmas is about the people we share it with, and how her faith remains the common thread between Christmases past, present and future.

Dolly Parton has had 26 songs reach #1 on the Billboard country charts, a record for a female artist. Parton has 48 career Top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and 110 career-charted singles over the past 50+ years. While being primarily known for Country Music, Parton has also been enshrined in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame based upon the influence her career has had on artists within that musical genre and today's blending of music styles. She is also known for her philanthropy efforts including donating over 218 million books to children around the world with her Imagination Library. 

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Get a FREE book for your Child each Month from Birth to 5 Yrs Old - Courtesy of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

From the first month we brought our kids home from the hospital after being born to today we've received a FREE book each month delivered in our mail courtesy of .... Dolly Parton.

The Country signer's Imagination Library has selected 60 books that they provide through partnerships with local charitable groups across the country to encourage parents to read to their young children for 15 minutes every day over the course of 5 yrs. If your community has a participating program (rules vary from program to program in some cases you just have to sign up and in other cases their are income/need criteria or programs you need to participate in to qualify) your child will receive a different book each month (specifically selected for suitability for your child's particular age level each month throughout the program) from birth until they turn 5 years old for a total of 60 books in all during that time span.

We've received some great books through this program such as "The Very Hungry Caterpillar", "Where the Wild Things Are", Little Monkey Lost", "My Lucky Day", "The Little Engine That Could", and "If I Built a Car" among others.   The goal of the program is to encourage parents to regularly read to their children from newborns until they reach kindergarten for 15 minutes a day to promote early brain development and an appreciation of reading with children.

Why is reading to kids so important? According to the non-profit group Read Aloud: 15 MINUTES:

Forty million children will be born in the United States over the next decade. If something does not change, 15 million of those children will not be ready when kindergarten rolls around. The 15 MINUTES Movement aims to turn daily reading aloud for 15 minutes from a recommendation into a parenting must.
Why is reading aloud so important?

• Brain development – Parents are a child’s first and most important teacher. From birth to age 3 are critical years for the development of language skills that are the foundation for future learning success.

• Language – The number of words that a child knows when he or she enters kindergarten is the most important predictor of a child’s success or failure. Reading aloud grows your child’s vocab and introduces many words and concepts that you might not use in everyday conversation.

• Literacy Skills – Vocabulary, phonics, familiarity with the printed word, storytelling, comprehension. Reading aloud is invaluable for building these skills.

• Bonding – Reading with a child in your lap is some primo bonding time.

• Love of Reading – Parents that read aloud are demonstrating that reading is important, pleasurable and valuable.

• Knowledge – Books have information! You and your child can learn something new when you read aloud.

Nearly half of America’s children are not read aloud to everyday. If your child is not reading at grade-level by the end of first grade, there is an 88 percent chance that they will still be behind in fourth grade. This can lead to a disheartened and frustrated child, who feels that they are constantly having to catch up.
By age 4, children who are read aloud to regularly have heard an average of 32 million more words than children who are not. 

Reading aloud 15 MINUTES is the simplest and most effective way to help our children be ready for a lifetime of learning.

For more information about Dolly Parton's Imagination Library or to to find a participating program serving your neighborhood, visit:  http://usa.imaginationlibrary.com/find_my_affiliate.php#.Ue6JAozD-M8

This has been a great program for our family to participate in courtesy of our local United Way & I'd encourage you to check it out if you have young children in your household.