Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff reads The Very Hungry Caterpillar to Massachusetts preschoolers.Photo: Steven Senne/AP/Shutterstock

Douglas Emhoff, center, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, reads The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle, to a group of pre-school children at Mother Hubbard Pre-School Center, in Milford, Mass.

During a stop at a Massachusetts preschool on Monday, Second GentlemanDough Emhoffhad the chance to read one of his favorite children’s books,The Very Hungry Caterpillar, to a group of hungry kids.

“Sometimes I still read it to them,” Emhoff, 56, joked during the visit, where he and Massachusetts Rep. Jake Auchincloss spoke in support of the COVID-reliefAmerican Rescue Plan, passed earlier this year.

Emhoff also touted PresidentJoe Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda, a set of trillion-dollar spending proposals that includes initiatives to cap the cost of childcare and provide access to early childhood education through universal preschool.

Biden hopes to pass his major domestic legislation through a razor-thin majority in the Senate. The Republican minority calls his spending plans excessive and ineffective.

While Democrats in Congress are working on gathering votes for the bills, the White House is deploying figures like Emhoff as key surrogates.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff reads The Very Hungry Caterpillar to preschoolers.Steven Senne/AP/Shutterstock

Douglas Emhoff, center, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, reads The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle, to a group of pre-school children at Mother Hubbard Pre-School Center, in Milford, Mass. Emhoff visited the child care center to draw attention to the Biden administration’s Build Back Better agenda Emhoff Massachusetts, Milford, United States - 20 Sep 2021

And so on Monday, Emhoff — the first-ever second gentleman,who has talked aboutworking to honor the legacy of female political spouses before him — went to Massachusetts.

“I’m married to the vice president of the United States, and her name isKamala Harris. And my name is Doug,” he said as he introduced himself to about a dozen preschoolers, who helped the second gentleman with a line of the book that’s repeated throughout the story: “…But he was still hungry!”

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff with Mother Hubbard Pre-School Center founder and owner Dorothy Vecchiolla (left) and Director Pamelia White.Steven Senne/AP/Shutterstock

Douglas Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, right, speaks with Mother Hubbard Pre-School Center founder and owner 91-year-old Dorothy Vecchiolla, left, and Director Pamelia White, second from left, during a visit to the child care center, in Milford, Mass. Emhoff visited the child care center to draw attention to the Biden administration’s Build Back Better agenda Emhoff Massachusetts, Milford, United

Still in its original location, Vecchiolla’s preschool provides care for 50 kids, ages 3 and 4, as well as 18 toddlers and infants.

The second gentleman also helped serve lunch of ziti with meat sauce, green beans, fruit and bread with butter to the kids.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff serves lunch at the Mother Hubbard Pre-School Center in Milford, Mass.Steven Senne/AP/Shutterstock

Douglas Emhoff, center, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, serves a lunch of pasta and green beans to pre-schoolers Sophia DeOliveira, left, and Ingrid Castro, right, both of Milford, Mass., while visiting Mother Hubbard Pre-School Center, in Milford. Emhoff visited the child care center to draw attention to the Biden administration’s Build Back Better agenda Emhoff Massachusetts, Milford, United

One of the school’s teachers spoke to Emhoff about the importance of meal programs in the classroom.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff with preschoolers.Steven Senne/AP/Shutterstock

Douglas Emhoff, top right, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, speaks to pre-school children after reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle, at Mother Hubbard Pre-School Center, in Milford, Mass. Emhoff visited the child care center to draw attention to the Biden administration’s Build Back Better agenda Emhoff Massachusetts, Milford, United States - 20 Sep 2021

“You can see it in there,” Emhoff said of the plan, referring to the preschool. “Now you also see the need for the Build Back Better Agenda. Childcare, family leave, nutrition, you literally are seeing it all in real-time.”

Before the lunch, Emhoff was also able to greet the students and check out some of their arts and crafts creations.

To one preschooler in a New England Patriots sweatshirt, Emhoff said, “Good game yesterday.”

source: people.com