Neil Clark Celebrates 1 Million Books with North Lincolnshire Council and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library!
Our talented Plum author-illustrator Neil Clark recently joined North Lincolnshire Council as they celebrated delivering their 1 millionth free book to over 27,000 local children under 5 with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library project!
About the Imagination Library
Each month The Imagination Library posts a picture book to children from ages 0-5, wrapping the book and addressing it to the child themself to make it that much more special for them to receive their very own book!
The Imagination Library has delivered over 200 million free books to children worldwide since its launch in 1995. It began in Dolly’s hometown of Sevier County, Tennessee, but since has been launched nationally across the US, Canada, the United Kingdon, Australia, and The Republic of Ireland.
Global sensation Dolly Parton set up the project as a tribute to her father, who couldn’t read himself, but inspired Dolly inspire children across the world to learn to read. In a letter she wrote that is on display on the Imagination Library website, she writes:
“Inspiring kids to love to read became my mission. In the beginning, my hope was simply to inspire the children in my home county but here we are today with a worldwide program that gives a book a month to well over 3 million children.”
Neil Creating a Crash! Bang! Wallop!
Neil had a brilliant day at the event, focusing his workshop on his picture book Crash! Bang! Wallop! This bright, loud, and fun picture book began as a book concept we worked on with Neil to develop and take to book fairs, and it caught the eye of Ladybird Books (part of Penguin Random House) who published it in 2022, and in October 2023 it was chosen to be included in the Imagination Library collection of free books to be given to children.
During the 1 Millionth Book celebration, Neil read from Crash! Bang! Wallop and helped the children draw and craft their own shapes like the characters in the book.
Neil had a fantastic day celebrating this brilliant achievement, saying,
“Dolly Parton's amazing scheme, The Imagination Library, has delivered over 200 million free books to children aged 0 to 5 all over the world. North Lincolnshire Council is one of the most successful areas to have taken on the scheme, recently delivering its 1 millionth book! As an author of 2 books chosen for the scheme, I was invited to celebrate the milestone by reading and talking to children in the region.
North Lincolnshire Council‘s milestone
North Lincolnshire Council introduced the scheme in 2013, and has now reached the incredible milestone for delivering its 1 millionth free book to a household in North Lincolnshire.!
To celebrate, they hosted a special event in Epworth, at the Live Well Isle of Axholme centre where they invited authors and illustrated whose books are included in the scheme, inclosing our very own Plum Niel Clark, for a fun-filled day of readings and workshops for over 200 school children and their parents.
