Michelle Obama Joins PBS KIDS For Weekly Story Times

For the past several weeks, PBS KIDS has been hosting read-alongs of favorite books with children's book authors on its Facebook page and YouTube channel in order to encourage reading while children are at home. Now, former First Lady Michelle Obama will join in on the fun, with a weekly series, Mondays with Michelle Obama.

Every Monday from April 20 through May 11 at 11:00 am CT, Obama will read a book on PBS KIDS' Facebook page and YouTube channel and on the Facebook of Penguin Random House, which is a partner in the initiative. The readings will be live-streamed and then available for viewing any time afterwards.

Here are the books Obama will read:

April 20: The Gruffalo, written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler 

April 27: There's a Dragon in Your Book, written by Tom Fletcher and illustrated by Greg Abbott

May 4: Miss Maple's Seeds, story and pictures by Eliza Wheeler

May 11: The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle 

A suite of activities, tips, and resources for each of the books that Obama will read are available at www.readtogetherbetogether.com, and companion literacy resources are available on pbskidsforparents.org.

Plus, you can watch all the previous read-alongs, featuring Brad Meltzer of Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum, Marc Brown of Arthur, Victoria Kann of Pinkalicious & Peterrific, and Angela Santomero of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood.

UPDATE: More read-alongs with Michelle Obama have been added, including one with her husband Barack Obama, of Giraffe Problems, written by Jory John and illustrated by Lane Smith, and The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Roach; and of Oh, The Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss and Can I Be Your Dog? by Troy Cummings. Plus, check out even more PBS KIDS read-alongs with authors, celebrities like Kristen Bell, and more.