I blogged previously about the wonderful Books from Birth program available in Davidson County which is now coming to 80 other Tennessee counties. Every child under the age of 5, regardless of income, receives a free monthly book. Of course, it’s up to parents to take the initiative to sign up for the program. It costs the state government $2 million to run the program, which was initially founded by Dolly Parton in her native Sevier County, and that funding may go up by $680,000 next year. The program has just been approved for wealthy Williamson County, where the average income is twice the state average, although many Williamson County residents would argue not all their neighbors have a three-car garage housing their Lexus, BMW and Land Rover. As a participating parent, I give the program a thumbs up. Caitlin loves receiving her monthly book in the mail and now Amelia has a small library. One parent in this Tennessean article even said the program was saving her about $40 to $50 a month, although I find it hard to believe the three books her children receive are worth that. Do normal parents actually have a monthly book budget? If so, I’m impressed. For those losing TennCare coverage, I can understand their criticism. A grandparent who relies on TennCare could argue it’s more important for their quality of health care to not be shirked so that they can continue to spend time with their grandchildren, rather than their grandchildren receive a free book in the mail. Governor Bredesen is in a bit of a political quagmire. This book program will be a wonderful legacy to leave, but the TennCare situation will be a thorn in his side for some time. And the Tennessean piece doesn’t mention another free learning resource available to everyone- the local public library.

If you don’t know what the heck this headline means, then you are missing out on the wonderful Books from Birth program facilitated through Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. Dolly Parton founded her Imagination Library in 1996 and last year Gov. Phil Bredesen partnered with her to form this program for children ages 5 and under in Davidson County. I wish I could remember who told me about this originally, but I signed both girls up this year. They have received some wonderful free books in the mail. Caitlin is also at the age where she loves to get mail so she loves it. As far as I know, it is only for children in Davidson County at this time.

I stumbled across this yesterday and thought it was a great way to help out children affected by the hurricanes.

I realize these lists are just hidden marketing tactics but I enjoy them. Click here to see the books TIME chose as best since they first published in 1923

How did this word sneak into my blog? (see previous post on the $12 million Victoria’s Secret bra.) How did this word sneak its way into pop culture? Click here for wikipedia’s definition. I also ran across urbandictionary.com. For those of you who want to focus on your inner bling click here.

The American Society of Magazine Editors has chosen the top magazine covers of the past 40 years. I actually had a huge poster of The New Yorker cover (#4) in college.

Click here