Watch Dolly Parton Read 'Coat of Many Colors' in Episode 2 of YouTube Book Series

On April 2, Dolly Parton kicked off her "Goodnight With Dolly" YouTube series by reading The Little Engine That Could, and for the second episode, the country icon chose Coat of Many Colors, a children's book she wrote based on her own song of the same name. Parton read the story from her bed, wearing printed pajamas and glasses as she held up the book to the camera.

"Hello, I'm Dolly, the book lady from the Imagination Library, and today I'm going to be reading a very special book, it's called 'The Coat of Many Colors,'" she told the camera. "It was written by Dolly Parton, that's me, of course, and it was illustrated by Brooke Boynton-Hughes. This is so special that I hope it touches you like it has me through the years." She proceeded to read the story in her soothing and lilting voice, ending the clip with a simple, "Goodnight."

Parton wrote Coat of Many Colors using lyrics from her song to tell the story of a young girl whose mother sewed her a patchwork coat out of colorful rags, and explained at the end of the video that the song inspired the book. "My coat of many colors that my momma made for me," she sang. "Made only from rags, but I wore it so proudly. And although we had no money, I was rich as I could be in my coat of many colors momma made for me."

New episodes of "Goodnight With Dolly" will arrive every Thursday evening for the two months. Footage will include Parton and the interior illustrations of the books, which have been "carefully chosen for their appropriate content at this moment in time." The series is in partnership with Parton's Imagination Library, which aims to improve childhood literacy.

"This is something I have been wanting to do for quite a while, but the timing never felt quite right," Parton said in a press release, via Rolling Stone. "I think it is pretty clear that now is the time to share a story and to share some love. It is an honor for me to share the incredible talent of these authors and illustrators. They make us smile, they make us laugh and they make us think."

In 1995, Parton launched the Imagination Library, which gifts children around the world with books and mails a free book to children from birth to age five in participating communities every month. Over 20 years later, the organization spans four countries mails a free book to over one million children around the world each month.