Spring has finally arrived. Now is the perfect time to get out and enjoy our beautiful Yampa Valley by strolling through StoryWalk on the path along the Yampa River between The Depot and the Stockbridge Transit Center.

StoryWalk is an early literacy program sponsored by Women United of the United Way of the Yampa Valley in partnership with the Bud Werner Memorial Library. The story that will be displayed in panels along the path in late April, weather permitting, through May is “Night Animals” by Gianna Marino, a fun story that can help children overcome fear of the dark. If you have children from newborns through age 5, be sure to scan the QR code on the last panel to register them for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to receive a free book every month.

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library is an early literacy program that is free to all Routt County children thanks to Women United, an affinity group of United Way of the Yampa Valley. We cover the cost of the books and, since July 2021, split the cost with the state of Colorado because the Governor and Colorado legislators believe in the value of the program.

Every year, a panel of early literacy professionals recruited by The Dollywood Foundation reviews hundreds of books to select the best high quality, age-appropriate illustrated books, including two bi-lingual titles, to send to each age group enrolled in the program.

The Foundation handles all the logistics involved in getting the books printed and mailed directly to your home.

We know that young children who are read to every day are more prepared for learning when they enter kindergarten and continue to outperform their peers throughout their school years. With all the technology available today, it is very tempting to slip a smartphone or tablet into your little one’s hands to keep them occupied.

However, research has shown that animated stories are a bit overwhelming for developing brains. In contrast, The Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics states that reading aloud to children at a young age can positively impact a child’s brain development: When preschool children listen to stories, it activates the areas of their brains that are associated with processing images and narrative comprehension. It also exposes children to a larger, more diverse vocabulary and greater variety of sentence structures than just talking to them.

In addition to receiving their own mail every month, which makes a child feel very grown up, each child enrolled in the Imagination Library will receive a personalized video message from Dolly on their birthday. How special is that?!

Before heading out to enjoy the beautiful spring weather, we encourage you to take a few minutes to register your child at imaginationlibrary.com and then enjoy reading to your child every day and watching your child’s home library grow from month to month.