DOLLY! The Story of Dolly Parton and Her Big Dream w/author Robyn McGrath

Congratulations Carrie Suzanne Karnes-Fannin!  You are the winner of your choice of the StoryTime books read by the Cleveland Orchestra.
AND
Congratulations Janet Frenck Sheets!  You are the winner of a musical picture book critique.

Thank you both for checking out PBJamz!  I hope you'll come back often!

Interview with Robyn McGrath, author of DOLLY!: THE STORY OF DOLLY PARTON AND HER BIG DREAM

We hope you enjoy this chat with Robyn as she talks inspiration, research, publishing process, musical connections, and what's next!

DOLLY! The Story of Dolly Parton and Her Big Dream

While there are other picture books on the market about Dolly, this one focuses on Dolly's childhood and the big dreams she had and how she made her dreams come true.  The language is so lovely and country and well done.  I love the phraseologies and the "twang".  Anyone who is a fan of Dolly will enjoy this look at Dolly the dreamer and how she started her journey to become the beautiful strong woman, prolific performer, reader/writer, and  literacy leader, entrepreneur, and all the facets that make up Dolly.

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A Little Jam. . .(The Music Kind)

Dolly has touched so many genres, and it is only fitting that she moved into the children's realm.  This song is perfect to follow up the. book and also perfect to go along with THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD which is always the first book children receive from the Imagination Library.  This is a sweet and positive song with Dolly's signature vocals and full of affirmations to encourage children to reach out for their own dreams!

Teacher Tips, Tricks and Topics

• The first line starts out, "Deep in a holler" -- Discuss what that means and introduce students to Appalachia through other books (like Appalachia by Cynthia Rylant)
  • Social studies connection
  • Discuss (or make or invite someone in to show/demonstrate corn cob doll)
• Text/illustrations (she had a microphone) -- look at the pictures; what was she using for a microphone; Look for other examples of how the text matches (or doesn't match) the illustrations.
• Metaphors -- She was all sparkles and rhinestones.  Was she really?  What does that mean?  This story is full of lots of colorful language.  Find your favorite phrases/sentences.  Why do you like them?  What is special about them?
• Ordinal numbers (fourth of 12 children). Create story problems to use ordinals.
• Bullying
  • Great song connection on the YouTube playlist about bullying
  • Also look at her book and song "Coat of Many Colors"
• Persistence, following a dream
  • Process -- not enough to dream
    • Have to follow up with hard work (What work did Dolly do?)
    • Be willing to make sacrifices (What sacrifices did she make?)
    • Face hard things/challenges (What challenges did Dolly face?)
  • Talk about your dreams --
    
    • What hard work do you need to do?
    • What are some sacrifices that may come because of your dream?
    • What are some challenges that might come?
• Discuss the Dollyisms in the back matter -- what do they mean?  Are they correct? Important?  Do you agree/disagree?

Tips and Topics for Music Teachers

• Analyze Dolly's song lyrics (the ones for kids; if you use her adult music, check to be sure it is appropriate for your age range; Dolly wrote all kinds of songs about all kinds of things. . . )
• Discuss Appalachian music as a genre.  Listen to samples/examples.
• Explore as many of the instruments in the book as you can:
  • Guitar
  • Banjo
  • Fiddle
  • Tambourine
  • Piano
• Explore country music as a genre
• Explore information about the Grand Ole Opry
  • History
  • Performers
  • Purpose
• Dig deeper into the other performers mentioned in the book:
  • Johnny Cash
  • Porter Wagoner
  • Kitty Wells
  • Patsy Cline
• Rhythm practice -- it talked about her drumming rhythms on pots and pans, on the dashboard, etc.   Use country, bluegrass/Appalachian music or Dolly's kids tunes to tap out rhythms.
• Compose rhythms -- be a rhythm writer like Dolly.  Compose rhythms using words from the story or using standard notation.
• Practice steady beat to Dolly songs
• Discuss the difference in beat (always steady) and rhythm (a mixture of short and long sounds).

Writing Prompts from Tonnye

1. The book starts with down in the holler.  Research what that phrase means and write a list of things you could do "down in a holler"
2.  Write a poem about sparkly things: diamonds, rhinestones, glitter, etc.
3. Write a song or story called, "How NOT to Be a Bully" or another song about not bullying.
4. Write about a dream you have.  How can you work right now to make your dream come true?
5. Write about the importance of the support of people around Dolly -- her family and friends. Who do you have in your corner supporting you?
6. One of Dolly's favorite books is THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD.  Read that book and then write a song, story, or poem inspired by that book.
7. Do you prefer country music or another kind?  Why?
8. People kept telling Dolly she was "too young" "just a kid", "too little".  Have you ever been told you're "too _______"?  Write about how that makes you feel and what you can do to change it or to deal with how people feel about it.
9. Write a story about being in a family with twelve children.
10. Write about a time you were bullied or you bullied someone else.
11. Choose one of the Dollyisms in the back of the book and write about what it means to you or how it could help you in your life.
12. Dolly sings, writes (music and books), plays guitar and piano, has an amusement park and runs the Imagination Library that gives free books to kids.  Which one of those things do you most wish you could do ?  Why?

Writing Tips from Robyn McGrath

​1.     Write that bad first draft. It takes a lot of willpower to write without editing as you go. If you’re like me, when I edit as I’m writing I trip up on my words and get easily sidetracked on punctuation, spelling, and grammar. Try letting the words flow without hitting the delete button AND without judgment. I personally like to set a 20-minute timer so that I work uninterrupted for shorter periods of time. The hardest part about writing is getting the full story down. And once you do… remember only YOU will see that bad first draft.
 
2.     Read, read, and read some more. Read for rhythm, story structure, pacing, and page turns. Find the picture book you most connect with, what draws you to that style of writing? What feeling did the text elicit while you were reading?  And how did the author use page turns to build suspense? Make note of all these great insights and decide how you can use them in your own manuscript.
 
3.     Edit for fun! In the past I dreaded having to edit. But now I find that chopping, rearranging, and rewriting CAN be enjoyable. Can I try a new word here? Move this sentence there? Do I need this sentence at all? How can I say this same sentiment in as few words as possible? It’s like a puzzle, and well, I LOVE puzzles! In end if you’re afraid of cutting your darlings, try cutting and pasting them to a separate word doc, you just might find use for them later.
 
4.     Be vulnerable. Yes, this is a tough one! To be a writer one must share their work with others for feedback. It can be hard to hear feedback about our work, especially when the story is close to our hearts. But often our critique partners can see something we can’t by offering us ideas that are new and fresh. Ideas that might just get other ideas flowing. Which in turn can give you a renewed energy about your manuscript! That is the power of a critique group! Of course, in the end the choice is yours to accept the feedback or not, but by having options YOU get to play with your manuscript in a new way.

Links, More Fun, Extensions for Families and Everyone!

• YouTube playlist with Dolly songs for kids, interviews, read-alouds and more!
• ​Pinterest board collecting photos, books, songs, and more (I tried to limit to family-friendly/kid-appropriate, but PLEASE double-check before sharing with littles)
• ​Dolly Parton's Imagination Library website
• Info about Dolly via Kiddle​

PBJamz Snack -- Peanut Butter and Jelly Biscuits!

As a Southerner, Dolly loves Southern country cooking, including biscuits!  So, for today's PBJamz snack, I'm suggesting Dolly's famous biscuits made into sweet little PBJ biscwiches that are worth singing about and will make your toes tap!  Of course, you can also enjoy them plain or with butter or jam only and leave out the peanut butter, but then, why would you?  Just kidding!  You enjoy them however you like, but I hope you'll give her biscuits and our PBJ biscwiches a try! This recipe is courtesy of Taste of Home!

Guest Links and Giveaways

Check out all the places you can find Robyn!

​Website

Twitter

Instagram

Order Dolly and get more info


GIVEAWAY DETAILS!!

Robyn is offering one winner YOUR CHOICE of either
A copy of DOLLY!
OR
A PB CRITIQUE