Dolly Parton is giving away more than three million books to children every month

Almost 30 years since its launch, over three million books are sent out each month, and have been sent to more than 240 million children in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, and Australia.

At an event in Kentucky, Dolly explained the idea was inspired by her father not going to school and not being able to read and a desire to help improve literacy in children across the US.

She said at the event: "My dad was a country boy who grew up in the rural areas of east Tennessee and didn't get a chance to go to school. So my daddy couldn't read and write and he was always real embarrassed about that and that always troubled me because he thought he couldn't learn to read after he was grown but daddy was one of the smartest people that you would ever wanna know and he was my hero.

"I always feel like daddy is just right here with me. My family has always been my greatest inspiration.

"I can honestly say that the Imagination Library has meant as much, if not more to me than nearly anything that I've ever done."

The '9 to 5' hitmaker also admitted her father was prouder of her for the book programme than her music career.

She added: "The kids started calling me the 'book lady.' And daddy was more proud of that than he was that I was a star. But daddy got to feeling like he had really done something great as well."