Obamas read children’s book aloud in video ‘to give all you parents a break’ amid pandemic

Former President Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama posted a video Thursday of them reading a children’s book aloud “to give all you parents a break.”

The Obamas read “The Word Collector,” about a child who collects new words he hears in scrapbooks, in a video posted on Twitter for the Chicago Public Library.

“We chose this book because it illustrates the transformative power of words,” the former president says in the video. “I love words.”

In a caption posted with the video, Obama said, “Michelle and I want to do our part to give all you parents a break today.”

Michelle and I want to do our part to give all you parents a break today, so we’re reading “The Word Collector” for @chipublib. It’s a fun book that vividly illustrates the transformative power of words––and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did. pic.twitter.com/ADYbL6Dzg4

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 14, 2020

As schools throughout the country remain shut down and transferred to online work because of the coronavirus pandemic, celebrities and others have recorded themselves reading books as a form of entertainment for children living under stay-at-home orders. 

After finishing the book, Michelle Obama says her husband is “the word guy” in the house, adding that “he looks kind of like” the child in the story. 

“They have the same ears,” she says, prompting the former president to say, “Mine are a little bigger.” 

“A lot bigger,” Michelle Obama responds, leading both of them to laugh.