Michelle Obama will entertain your kids for you

Attention overworked, stressed-out parents: Michelle Obama has got your kids covered. At least for the next four Mondays.

Starting April 20 at noon EDT, the former first lady will be reading children's books live in a weekly event dubbed "Mondays with Michelle." Obama will read a different beloved children's book for four consecutive Mondays, through May 11, in a collaboration with Penguin Young Readers, Random House Children's Books, and PBS Kids.

You and your child can livestream the readings on PBS Kids' Facebook page, its YouTube page, and Penguin Random House's Facebook page. But if your kids are too busy with their schoolwork, or avoiding their schoolwork, they can watch the readings on all three platforms after each live viewing has concluded.

The event is part of Penguin Random House's literacy initiative "Read Together, Be Together," which it calls "a nationwide movement that celebrates the importance and power of reading with young children." PBS Kids' "Read-Alongs" on Facebook and YouTube give "families a place to come together and read along with fan-favorites" like Brad Meltzer's animated television series Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum. Penguin's initiative was slated to begin in the summer of 2020, but the publisher launched it earlier due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“At this time when so many families are under so much stress," Obama said in a press release, "I’m excited to give kids a chance to practice their reading and hear some wonderful stories (and to give parents and caretakers a much-needed break)."

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PBS Kids has unveiled the books Obama will be reading — the schedule is as follows:

April 20, 12 p.m. EDT:

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler

April 27, 12 p.m. EDT:

There's a Dragon in Your Book by Tom Fletcher and illustrated by Greg Abbott

May 4, 12 p.m. EDT:

Miss Maple's Seeds, written and illustrated by Eliza Wheeler

May 11, 12 p.m. EDT:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, written and illustrated by Eric Carle

Mashable