Dolly Parton, the renowned country legend at 78, holds a special place in her heart for Christmas music. As she tells PEOPLE exclusively, "Well, you know I love all the Christmas songs. I love the fast ones, I love the slow ones." She continues, "I love 'Silent Night' and 'O Little Town of Bethlehem,' but then I love 'Rudolph' and all of those fun things. I just love all of that."

Embracing Technology in Music

Parton acknowledges that the way people listen to music has evolved over the years. She herself has embraced using technology to make playing her favorite songs more convenient. She says, "We all have either an Alexa or Siri or one of those kinds of things. I just always holler out, 'Alexa, play holiday music for 12 hours in my house,' or something like that, and I just like all of it."

The Early Christmas Albums

In 1984, Parton released her first holiday album, Once Upon a Christmas, alongside Kenny Rogers. Then, in 1990, she followed it up with her solo collection of festive songs titled Home for Christmas. However, fans had to wait 30 years for the next holiday album, Holly Dolly Christmas, which featured classics like "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" and "Mary, Did You Know?"

Christmas Movies and Songs

Throughout the years, Parton has also released several Christmas songs for original movies. For instance, there was Christmas at Dollywood for the Hallmark Channel and Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square for Netflix. Her love of the annual holiday is evident in these works.

The Christmas Book

Parton's love of the holiday makes it no surprise that she published Billy the Kid Comes Home for Christmas ahead of Dec. 25. This children's book is a sequel to her 2023's Billy the Kid Makes It Big. It shows another side of her creative spirit during the Christmas season.Dolly Parton founded Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in 1995, which sends free books each month to children from birth to age 5, regardless of their household income. Dolly Parton’s Billy the Kid Comes Home for Christmas by the country singer and Erica S. Perl, illustrated by MacKenzie Haley, is available now, wherever books are sold.