President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama surprised 25 students from nearby Hyde Park school William H. Ray Elementary at the Obama Presidential Center's Chicago Public Library branch at 10:15 a.m.
The Obamas came out to read Maurice Sendak's children's classic "Where the Wild Things Are" and spent about 24 minutes reading as well as taking pictures with the students and teachers afterwards.
"Are you telling stories up in here?" President Obama said to the kids after walking into the main reading room from the library's nearby President's Reading Room. He asked the kids for some riddles before starting to read. One student said, "What goes up but never comes down?" The answer was "your age."
"That's only true for me. My wife, she's getting younger," President Obama exclaimed. "No, I'm not," she replied.
"This is your library, alright. And when I was your age, I loved books, and I loved coming to libraries, even though sometimes the librarians would tell me to 'shh' because I was kind of loud," President Obama told the children. "And I'm still kind of loud, my wife says. But I used to love reading new books, and there are tons of books here that you guys can read."
The Obamas split the time reading the book, first Michelle Obama and then President Obama. The children asked questions and acted out parts of the book, including when President Obama asked them to roar, "gnash their terrible teeth" and "roll their terrible eyes," – key parts of the children's book. The Obamas also playfully acted out the roars, gnashing of teeth, and rolling of the eyes.
In a section of the book about being "king of all the wild things," Michelle Obama interjected with, "Although there were no kings," resulting in applause from onlookers.
During the reading, a young girl in the crowd raised her hand to tell Michelle Obama she did a project about her in school and said she learned about her "favorite things" and that she has a sibling.
"His name is Craig. He's tall. Sort of like a wild thing," Michelle Obama said. A child yelled, "My sister's crazy." President Obama responded with, "That's what Craig says."
"We also want you guys to know that you can always come back and hang out here and read on your own, or read with your friends, or read with your family," President Obama said. "Because this is going to be your spot. This is your library."
Teachers and parents who were in the room said they were completely surprised by the Obamas as guest readers. The students, kindergarten through third grade, arrived at 8:54 a.m. on the public opening of the main presidential center. They were the first school group to be invited to the new library. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson also watched the readings.
LeVar Burton of the "Reading Rainbow" and Mychal Threets, Burton's successor, also read to the kids before the Obamas appeared.
The 5,000-square-foot library branch is adjacent to the main museum, where people had been posing for photos all morning, including giving high fives to statues of the Obamas.
The main reading room of the library features a 70-foot mural called "Reading Circles/Weaving Dreams/Seeding Futures" by artist Aliza Nisenbaum. The President's Reading Room has 3,000 books personally selected by the Obamas.
Doors to the library officially opened to the public at 11:09 a.m.
