- We are back with Dolly Parton, everybody.
(audience cheering)
As I mentioned at the top of the show,
a lot of Dolly's impact on our lives has gone
well beyond her music.
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library was launched in 1995.
Since then, they have literally given away
nearly 200 million books.
That's incredible.
(audience clapping)
And in fact, - Yeah, I'm proud of it.
- one in 10 children in the US under the age of five
is currently receiving a book from Dolly.
Liz, in our audience, is someone who has,
who is impacted by the Imagination Library.
So Liz, you have something you wanna share
with Dolly, right?
- Dolly, you don't know us, but my husband and I
live in North Florida, and over the years of our marriage
we have provided housing and help
to dozens and dozens of vulnerable women and children.
- [Dolly] Good for you.
- [Liz] A little over six years ago,
a very special baby came into our lives.
She was medically fragile,
diagnosed with septo-optic dysplasia,
and we knew right away that she was blind.
Later, her pediatrician would tell us
that they didn't think she would make it.
And for the longest time, we weren't sure
that she was going to walk and talk.
But then one day, when she was about eight months old,
she was sitting in her Aunt Tay Tay's lap,
and Marvin Gaye's song, "What's Going On"
came on the radio, and she began humming it perfectly
in tune.
And I thought, "Oh, there's just a whole lot more going
on than they're telling us."
- [Dolly] Wow.
- Yeah. Marvin Gaye with the taste!
- [Liz] Yeah, she's got taste!
- As a first song, dang!
That's incredible!
- That's great.
- Something else happened around then, though, right?
- [Liz] Around that time, we began receiving braille books
from the Imagination Library.
So our daughter was exposed to pre-braille and braille,
and that is so important.
I don't know if you're aware of it, but only
about 10% of blind children have the opportunity
to be braille-literate.
- Wow. - Wow.
- [Liz] Today, our daughter is six years old.
She's in the first grade at RideOut Elementary School
in Clay County, Florida.
She was reading and writing braille
before most children read and write print, and her...
(audience clapping)
- Yeah. That's so great!
- [Liz] And her teachers tell us she may be gifted,
but the story...
the big story of it, is once that language
all started coming together,
and her exposure, as she was spinning on her
little sit-and-spin one day and singing like she does
all the day, all the time, and she started singing
"Amazing Grace."
And when she got to that part,
"and I was blind, but now I see,"
I thought, my daughter does see,
she's going to see the world through the love
and the generosity of people like you, Dolly,
who stand in all those gaps that we have.
Our family is so grateful for you.
- [Dolly] Oh, what a sweet wonderful story!
My goodness!
Is that not touching?
Well see, that's what makes it all worthwhile,
to hear those stories, to think that a little child,
you know, that the Imagination Library,
that we have that in braille. - [Kelly] Yeah.
- You just never know.
You do not know.
But thank God, for that child,
and for you coming here today to share that with us.
That that makes me feel great,
and I know my dad would be proud.
- [Kelly] Well, we have a special surprise.
Rosie is actually here, and we're gonna bring her out.
Come on out, Rosie!
(applause)
- [Rosie] Whoa! I didn't think that was gonna happen.
- [Dolly] Hey, Rosie!
- [Kelly] Hello!
- [Dolly] Hello!
- [Kelly] You wanna meet Dolly? She's right there.
- [Dolly] I'm Dolly. I'm the book lady. You remember me?
- [Rosie] Yes!
- [Dolly] Well, I'm so proud of you!
You are so beautiful!
- [Kelly] Can I give you a hug?
I'm Kelly. What's up? I'm giving a hug.
- [Dolly] This is Kelly's show.
- You wanna come sit down with us?
- Yes!
- [Kelly] Okay, let's- Here, I got your hand.
- [Rosie] How about you sing me a song?
- [Kelly] Oh!
- [Dolly] Well, how about we sing something together?
- [Kelly] I hear you like Amazing Grace.
Is that, you like that one?
- [Rosie] Yes.
- [Kelly] You wanna start us?
We'll sing with ya.
- [Rosie] No, you sing it for me.
- [Kelly] Oh, I love, I love it.
You know what, I love a person that knows what they want.
That's what I love.
- I'll sing with her.
You wanna start?
- ♪ Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, ♪
♪ that saved a wretched like me, ♪
♪ I once was lost, ♪
♪ but now I'm found ♪
♪ was blind, but now I see. ♪
- Now you sing one.
Sing with us.
You wanna sing?
- How about I sing The Lion Sleeps Tonight?
- Do that one!
- Okay, do that one!
- I love that song!
- Alrighty.
♪ In the jungle, the mighty jungle, ♪
♪ the lion sleeps tonight ♪
(nails clacking)
- [Kelly] ♪ Aweem awey, aweem awey ♪
♪ Jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight... ♪
- [Dolly] Everybody!
- [Kelly] And then it goes...
- [Rosie And Kelly] ♪ Awee ♪
♪ Awee awey ♪
- I love that song!
♪ Awee ♪
- [Kelly] I love it!
- [Dolly] Yeah you!
(audience clapping)
- [Kelly] Oh my gosh, Rosie-
- [Dolly] You are so special.
- [Kelly] Yeah.
Great job, Rosie.
Thank you.
- [Dolly] She's doing it all around over there.