Some sounds are inherently soothing, like the purring of a kitten, or a waterfall — or Dolly Parton’s voice. And we needed a lot of soothing this year. In April, the Tennessean who gave us “Jolene,” “I Will Always Love You” and hundreds of other classics, who is one of the stars of the glorious feminist comedy 9 to 5, who sends books to 850,000 children per month — the heroic angel Dolly Parton read bedtime stories to us when we needed them most. Clad in mint-green pajamas and her reading glasses, Dolly sat up in bed and read The Little Engine That Could, Llama Llama Red Pajama and more in 10 episodes of Good Night With Dolly, which were posted across her Imagination Library social media channels and on YouTube. They surely helped a lot of kiddos — and adults — rest a bit easier. ERICA CICCARONE
Best Virtual Story Time
Good Night With Dolly
