Maureen Pao

This week, country music legend Dolly Parton celebrated a big milestone: 100 million books. That's right, books. Parton's nonprofit, Imagination Library, mails free books to children from birth to age 5 across the country, and this week, she celebrated the program's remarkable growth in a special ceremony at the Library of Congress.

In 1992, when Lynne Houston first laid eyes on the man who would become her husband, he was wearing a white gown with blood all over it. The then-waitress dropped the food she was delivering and ran.

New mom Maisha Watson uses one of the 20,000 cardboard boxes given out so far in New Jersey. She's glad to have a safe spot for her son to sleep. But some question the boxes' safety and effectiveness.

The two-pronged approach to promoting safe sleep led to a 25 percent drop in the risky practice of bed sharing with babies in the first eight days of life, a study found. But more research is needed.

Collectors covet the detailed and intricate charm-like pieces, used as anchors on kimono sashes. Master carver Komada Ryushi shares how he still gets nervous each time he starts a new netsuke.

The baby boxes that Finland gives to all new mothers are legendary. Now states in the U.S. are experimenting with them as a way to encourage safe sleep practices and reduce SIDS.

In the Civil War's waning years, African-Americans trying to find lost loved ones used classified ads in newspapers. More than 900 of these notices are now accessible via an online database.

No snark or anti-commercialism rantings here, just a dose of simple sweetness. Readers share stories and photos — and an NPR artist re-creates a couple of valentines that live on only in memories.

Raising kids is tough, even if you have a partner and a steady income or two. Single moms and dads face even more challenges, and like all parents are doing the best they can, with what they have.

Kids may be little. But the cost of paying for someone to take care of them is really big. Stressed-out parents are pinching pennies, driving for Uber and putting off saving and having more kids .

The "dark presence" of the bronze and brooding National Museum of African American History and Culture illuminates black history, and by extension, the history of America itself.

From his earliest days picking peas to improving wages and working conditions as a union leader, Cesar Chavez dedicated his life to giving voice to the exploited men and women who grow America's food.

When the U.S. child support collection system was set up in 1975 under President Gerald Ford — a child of divorce whose father failed to pay court-ordered child support — the country, and the typical family, looked very different from today.

And as the nation's social, economic and demographic landscape ...

Good news for "mean" moms and dads out there: Nearly 8 out of 10 kids say they think discipline helps them behave better, a survey by children's magazine Highlights has found. And 60 percent give participation trophies — derided by some as a reward for just showing up — ...

When Pope Francis meets with American bishops at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, seminarian Stefan Megyery will participate in the midday prayer service.

He can hardly contain his excitement.

"How often do you get the chance to meet the pope?" Megyery says.

A ...

The images continue to haunt: storm surge from Hurricane Katrina pouring through gaps in failed flood walls, rapidly rising waters, desperate New Orleanians trapped on rooftops.

During one of U.S. history's costliest and deadliest hurricanes and its aftermath, a colorful cast of characters was catapulted onto the national stage. Some ...

At a local FairPrice Supermarket in central Singapore, you'll find baby carrots grown in Bakersfield, Calif. — the same ones for sale at my local grocery store in Washington, D.C.

Such well-traveled vegetables aren't unusual in the tiny island state, which imports more than 90 percent of its food from ...

Protesters in Taiwan are angry. They've taken over the island's Parliament, blocking the doors with piles of furniture. They also stormed the offices of the Cabinet, where they clashed with riot police armed with batons and water cannons.

The source for all this hostility? A proposed trade deal ...

Activists around the world are trumpeting a call to "Dump Russian Vodka" — Stolichnaya, in particular — a protest against the implementation of several anti-gay laws in Russia, the latest in a marked surge in anti-gay sentiment and violence in the country.

But as NPR and other media ...

My name is Maureen, and I am an Ikea-holic. Sure, I laughed knowingly at The Narrator's "slave to Ikea" speech as much as the next Fight Club fan. But the awful truth is, I've got a Beddinge in my bedroom.

And I'm not embarrassed to say so.

But for ...