Your family's next Tennessee State Park adventure may include an all-new fun element for the littlest ones in your brood. It's thanks to the installation of Storybook Trails at select parks featuring Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. The 2018 initiative of Tennessee State Parks, Tennessee State Parks Conservancy and the Governor's Books from Birth Foundation results in six parks hosting the Storybook Trails this year. Six more will open in East Tennessee in 2019. Tennessee State Parks Imagination Library Storybook Trails are the result of a grant from the Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation. The organization's mission is promoting early childhood literacy in Tennessee’s children ages birth to 5 years. The Storybook Trails tell nature-themed stories with signs placed at a young child's height. Each stop along the trail features the next part of the story displayed with large artwork and text. It's a fun way to promote early childhood literacy along with encouraging outdoor nature family togetherness.
STORYBOOK TRAILS LOCATIONS
Four Middle Tennessee state parks currently host Storybook Trails:
• Cumberland Mountain State Park (Crossville): Night-Night, Forest Friends by Annie Bach
• Edgar Evins State Park (Silver Point): Where Butterflies Grow by Joanne Ryder
• Long Hunter State Park (Hermitage): Miss Maple's Seeds by Eliza Wheeler
• Henry Horton State Park (Chapel Hill): Little Owl's Night by Divya Srinivasan
Two more will open soon: Montgomery Bell State Park in Burns (One Leaf, Two Leaves, Count with Me! by John Micklos, Jr.) opens Saturday, Oct. 27 at 11 a.m. Picket CCC Memorial State Park in Jamestown opens Saturday, Nov. 3 at 10:30 a.m. (Old Bear and His Cub by Olivier Dunrea).
SIGN UP FOR IMAGINATION LIBRARY
Do you have or know a child, birth to age 5? Enroll them into the Imagination Library at www.GovernorsFoundation.org to receive a high-quality book each month in the mail, at no cost!
