Michelle Obama reads The Gruffalo on YouTube

Michelle Obama will read The Gruffalo (Macmillan Children's Books) online, as the first of a four-week series that will see her narrate classic children's books.

Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's classic is published by Dial in the US and has been selected in a collaboration between Penguin Young Readers, Random House Children’s Books, television network PBS Kids and Obama.

The former First Lady said: “As a little kid, I loved to read aloud. And when I became a parent, I found such joy in sharing the magic of storytelling with my own children ‚Äì and then later, as First Lady, with kids everywhere. At this time when so many families are under so much stress, I’m excited to give kids a chance to practise their reading and hear some wonderful stories (and to give parents and caretakers a much-needed break).”

“Mondays with Michelle Obama” kicks off on YouTube today (20th April) at 5 p.m. UK time. It will be live streamed simultaneously on the PBS KIDS and Penguin Random House US Facebook pages and will remain available for viewing on demand on all of those platforms afterwards.

It is in support of Penguin Random House's Read Together, Be Together, a nationwide scheme in the US that celebrates the importance and power of reading with young children. Originally slated to launch in summer 2020, the project has begun sooner than planned owing to the current health crisis, with a series of daily virtual story-times with bestselling and award-winning authors and illustrators and celebrity readers.

A suite of activities, tips, and resources for each of the books that Michelle Obama will read are available on the project website and companion literacy resources are available at PBS Kids.