Beloved children’s book characters like Madeline, Curious George, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Babar the Elephant and The Very Hungry Caterpillar star in a new video (embedded above) to promote the literacy nonprofit, Reading Is Fundamental.

The video urges readers to take the the Book People Unite pledge: “declare your belief in the transformative power of books, especially for young minds. Encourage your friends to join the movement too by sharing online and you’ll get a download of the full Book People Unite track. We’ll also follow up with news on the Book People Unite movement.”

The catchy song in the video was produced by The Roots with vocal support from Jack Black, Chris Martin, John Legend, Regina Spektor, Jim James, Nate Ruess, Jason Schwartzman, Melanie Fiona, Carrie Brownstein and Consequence. Follow this link to see reading pledges from these celebrities.

In this week’s episode of “5 Things You Need to Know This Week,” we dance like Chris Martin, get spooked by Angela Merkel, and talk to Siri about the Steve Jobs biography. Oh, and the world’s population increases.

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