The first lady’s got jokes.

Deborah Bryant cracked a few with kindergartners at Loyd Star Attendance Center Thursday before getting down to the business at hand — reading.

The visit was all part of her continuing effort to promote literacy.

“We don’t want any child left behind,” she said. “That’s an old saying, but it’s very true today.”

Early literacy in Mississippi is particularly important with the introduction the literacy-based promotion act, often referred to as the “third grade gate.” The law requires students in the third grade to pass an assessment showing that they can read at a third-grade level before moving on to the fourth grade.

While the legislation did not pass without criticism, Bryant said it was important to avoid advancing children before they were ready.

“We know how important it is to read,” she said. “It means success for all children. They have to to learn to read by the third grade, because by the fourth grade, they’re reading to learn.”

Rather than just reading to them, Bryant interacted with the children, joked with them and gave each one a hug when it was time to leave. Loyd Star Elementary Principal Jeremy Peagler said Bryant was good with the children.

“We loved having Mrs. Bryant here,” Peagler said. “She did a great job with the kindergarteners today. I really enjoyed having her group come in and love on our children a little bit.”

This isn’t the first time Bryant has read to children in Mississippi’s schools. In 2014, while her husband Phil Bryant was campaigning for his second term in office, she was visiting schools from every county in the state.

“That was my goal in 2014, because of our literacy issues, to go to every county — so that every child knew the importance of reading and how important they were,” she said.

Since then, Bryant said she makes it a habit to visit schools when she’s traveling. Bryant was visiting Brookhaven Thursday because she’d been invited to attend a luncheon with the Lincoln County Republican Women at Old Towne Church, and District 39 Sen. Sally Doty, R-Brookhaven, and District 92 Rep. Becky Currie, R-Brookhaven, were watching from behind the bookshelves to show their support.

Bryant said she enjoyed her time at the luncheon, but it’s visiting the children that is the highlight of her time as first lady.

“That’s my number one, reading to the kids,” she said. “And not just reading to them but having the dialog, and of course the hugs — the icing on the cake.”

Bryant said she tries to hug every kid she reads to.

“I hugged probably 10,000 kids in 2014,” she said.

Bryant said she’s a big fan of Brookhaven and Lincoln County, and she’s planning to retire on a property in Copiah County.