Laura Bush Praises Jenna Bush Hager as She Celebrates 5th Anniversary of ‘Read with Jenna’ Program

"By sharing your favorite books, you’re inspiring more Americans to fall in love with reading," Bush said

Jenna Bush Hager is celebrating the fifth anniversary of her ‘Read with Jenna’ program — and mom Laura Bush couldn’t be prouder.

The Today With Hoda and Jenna host, 42, celebrated the special milestone on The Today Show by bringing Read With Jenna authors onto the show who boxed up their books to send to libraries in all 50 states. The books will arrive at the libraries in time for Read Across America Day on Mar. 2.

“It’s so fun to have all of these authors here and they get to see all of these books, and I really just am proud of the community of readers that get to read with all of them,” Bush Hager said. “It’s pretty incredible.”

Related: Jenna Bush Hager Says Nights Reading with Her Kids Are 'So Precious': 'It Should Be Fun' (Exclusive)

Bookstore McNally Jackson, which has a location in 30 Rock, also put up a display celebrating the achievement by showcasing the various books on the Read With Jenna list.”

Today show host Craig Melvin noted that several of the books on the list have also seen great success, adding that 41 of the 63 books chosen for Read With Jenna have become New York Times bestsellers and 32 of them “have been optioned for TV or film.”

Related: Why Jenna Bush Hager Has Never Worked with a Stylist — and Loves to Repeat Outfits!

To congratulate Bush Hager, fellow Today hosts Melvin, Hoda Kotb, Carson Daly and Al Roker also surprised the author and host with a special video message from her mom.

“As we celebrate Read Across America Day, I congratulate you on five years of the Read With Jenna book club,” she said in the video, as her daughter teared up. “I’m thrilled you’re packing up each of your Read with Jenna selections and sending the books in a library in all 50 states.”

“By sharing your favorite books, you’re inspiring more Americans to fall in love with reading. So here’s to another five years of happy reading for you and all the Today show viewers,” she added. “Love you.”

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Bush Hager also shared her top five books of all time to mark the big occasion. Those include:

• A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

• Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

• The Secret History by Donna Tartt

“I love reading for so many reasons; it really is sort of my escape from everyday life. It’s how I calm down. It’s how I detach. It’s how I fall in love with other places that I will never go to. It’s how I empathize with characters who are nothing like me,” she told TODAY.com. “There’s nothing like falling in love with a book.”

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