Natalie Portman and Lupita Nyongo among those signed up to Instagram Live initiative to raise money for charity
As culture adapts to the limitations imposed by the Covid-19 outbreak there has been myriad new material online, from viral pop parody videos and impromptu classical concerts to TikTok dance-offs and marathon DJ sets. But now the online cultural arms race has shifted to another, less likely target: the humble bedtime story.
Several Hollywood actors, music stars and politicians have become childrens storytellers in an effort to support charities and bring some levity during the Covid-19 outbreak, as experts extol the importance of regular routines for parents and children.
Natalie Portman, Lupita Nyongo and Reese Witherspoon have all signed up to an Instagram Live initiative started by fellow actors Amy Adams and Jennifer Garner called Save With Stories, where celebrities read bedtime stories and appeal for donations to Save the Children and No Kid Hungry.
In a post on Instagram, Jake Gyllenhaal, who read a Jamie Lee Curtis story called Where Do Balloons Go?, wrote that the charities would support food banks, and mobile meal trucks, and community feeding programs to help the estimated 30 million US children who rely on school meals.