Children’s book characters make their way through the crowd during last year’s Storybook Breakfast. This year’s event, scheduled for Saturday at Grace United Methodist Church in Franklin, is a fundraiser for Imagination Library of Johnson County.
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For one magical morning, local children can find their storybook heroes come to life.
They can curtsy to fairytale princesses and give high-fives to literary icons such as Curious George, Pete the Cat and Fancy Nancy. While dining on pancakes, sausage and more, they can pose for pictures and collect autographs from their favorite characters, such as Llama Llama and Peter Rabbit.
Best of all, they’ll help support a community-wide effort to get free books in the hands of all Johnson County kids.
Imagination Library of Johnson County once again presents its Storybook Breakfast, a fundraising event supporting the local branch of the nationwide literacy program founded by Dolly Parton. Proceeds for the event go to the Imagination Library program, which provides a free book each month to participating children through age 4.
After a successful inaugural breakfast in 2022, organizers wanted to come back with another special event for children and families throughout the county.
“We want to create a really magical experience for the kids. That was one of the best things last year — seeing the kids walk in and their faces light up in awe and surprise and joy,” said Susan Crisafulli, organizer of the event for Imagination Library of Johnson County. “It brings us a lot of joy to be able to provide such a wonderful experience for families.”
Imagination Library is an organization founded by Parton in 1995. The idea was to help children in her home of Sevier County, Tennessee, achieve their dreams, stimulating their imaginations and encouraging reading within the family at an early age.
Through her foundation, Parton was able to send every child in the county who signed up a book each month.
The concept is simple — children are mailed a free book each month from birth through age 4, for a total of 60 free books by the time they enter kindergarten. Children “graduate” from the program on their fifth birthday. The first book the children receive is “The Little Engine That Could,” which includes a welcome letter from Dolly. The last book they receive is “Look Out, Kindergarten, Here I Come!”
Johnson County founded a chapter of the Imagination Library in 2017, in response to low kindergarten readiness rates in the county. Organizers raised money to provide books for kids in different zip codes, starting in Franklin and adding communities as funding for the books has been available.
Greenwood, with its dense population and a large number of children eligible for the program, was the last to be added in late 2022.
To date, the program has mailed more than 120,167 books to kids; more than 4,100 children are enrolled, and more than 2,200 have graduated from the program so far.
“We’ve been growing by leaps and bounds, to our delight. That’s the whole purpose — to get as many books into the hands of as many kids as we can,” Crisafulli said.
To make the book distribution happen, the Johnson County chapter raises money and registers children. The group pays approximately $25 a year to provide one book a month to each child.
This weekend’s Storybook Breakfast will help raise that money, Crisafulli said.
“This is our signature fundraiser for the year. But when we were thinking about fundraisers, we didn’t want to do another golf outing or a 5K or a gala — we really loved the idea of doing something for the children we serve,” she said. “Not only that, but it would help them fall in love with books even more.”
Also aiding Imagination Library of Johnson County’s efforts was a statewide initiative announced by Gov. Eric Holcomb in August to expand the program to children in every zip code in Indiana. Holcomb signed legislation into law in May that allotted $6 million over a two-year period — $2 million in the first year and $4 million in the second year, as part of a community share to expand the program to every zip code in the state.
Though that goal had already been met in Johnson County, the funding helps pay for half the shipping costs for the books, Crisafulli said.
“It’s a wonderful help to us,” she said. “We’re running a nonprofit, but we’re all doing this as our side project. We don’t have a full-time staff to devote as much time and resources to it. To have the state legislature come through with 50% of our funding takes a huge burden off of us.”
Still, fundraising on a local level remains incredibly important, particularly with the Storybook Breakfast, Crisafulli said.
The breakfast is $10 per ticket for attendees 13 and older; tickets for kids 5 to 12 cost $5, and children 4 and under are free.
“We try to keep ticket prices low so the event is accessible for most people,” Crisafulli said.
Inside Grace United Methodist Church, they’ll find a literary fantasyland, with some of their favorite characters frolicking around them. The room will be decorated like a fairytale castle, with balloons and banners filling the space.
Two different breakfasts had been planned for Saturday, though the one from 9 to 10 a.m. has sold out. The 11 a.m. to noon breakfast still has seats available.
Attendees will get to meet storybook characters and get autographs in special keepsake books included in the cost of the breakfast. Professional photographers will also be available to take photos of children with one of the characters, which will be mailed to them after the event.
“To see these characters who have always lived in the pages of their books come to life and interact with them and give them hugs is so special,” Crisafulli said.
IF YOU GO
Storybook Breakfast
What: An event for families featuring a breakfast of pancakes, sausage, fruit, juice and coffee while participants interact with their favorite storybook characters, get photographs taken by a professional photographer and collect autographs.
Who: Imagination Library of Johnson County, a local chapter of the nonprofit founded by Dolly Parton to distribute free books to kids 4 and under.
When: 11 a.m. to noon Saturday; the 9 a.m. seating is sold out
Where: Grace United Methodist Church, 1300 E. Adams Dr., Franklin
Cost: $10 per ticket for adults and those 13 and older; $5 for kids ages 5-12. Children 4 and under are free. Registration is required for any attendee, regardless of price or age.
How to buy tickets: Go to imaginationlibraryjoco.org
