AceShowbiz - Former First Lady of the U.S. Michelle Obama is partnering with PBS for a virtual story time each Monday over the next month during the coronavirus outbreak.

Michelle will give families a "much-needed" break with her new "Mondays With Michelle Obama" series, which will air weekly at 12 P.M. EST, starting next week, April 20, 2020.

Each week she'll read one of her favourite children's classics, including "The Gruffalo", "There's a Dragon in Your Book", "Miss Maple's Seeds", and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar".

"At this time when so many families are under so much stress, I'm excited to give kids a chance to practice their reading and hear some wonderful stories," Obama, 56, said in a statement.

"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 - and then later, as First Lady, with kids everywhere."

She's not the only President's wife reading to children who are stuck indoors during the lockdown - current First Lady Melania Trump shared a clip of herself reading children's book "The Little Rabbit" on YouTube, in place of the famed White House Easter Egg Roll, which usually takes place on Easter Sunday, April 12, 2020, but was cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic.

Elsewhere, actor Tom Hardy is returning to read a week's worth of CBeebies Bedtime Stories to U.K. kids in lockdown, beginning April 27, while former British royal Sarah Ferguson has launched a new YouTube channel, "Storytime with Fergie and Friends", and will read a different children's book every day at 4 P.M. BST.