Grammy winner Lizzo showed up at the Missouri City Branch Library to read her children's book, play the flute and hand out autographed copies.

Fort Bend ISD announced on X on Tuesday, Sept. 15, that the four-time Grammy Award winner visited the library at 1530 Texas Parkway to read "Lil Lizzo Meets Sasha B. Flootin'" to Jones Elementary students. The district called it a "surprise guest alert."

Students sang and danced during the visit. Lizzo performed live on the flute, the instrument at the center of her book's story. Every child left with an autographed copy and a toy flute to take home.

The book, illustrated by Mark Pett and released Sept. 8, follows a young girl who meets a sassy flute and goes on a magical adventure about finding her voice. Lizzo is touring North America to promote it, and the book is also available as an audiobook with Lizzo narrating.

Around the book's release, Lizzo wrote on social media: "Falling in love with the flute was life-changing for me, and it was a wild, magical adventure and I hope that you can have your own adventures as well …"

In a Sept. 9 appearance on The View, Lizzo said she hopes the book helps young readers feel like they fit in and gives them the confidence to find their own voice. She described herself as "deeply soaked in gratitude" for her life at this point in her career.

The Missouri City appearance came one week after Lizzo joined Fort Bend County Libraries' first 24-hour virtual Read-A-Thon on Sept. 8, World Literacy Day. In a pre-recorded video for that event, as Houston Public Media reported, she read from Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are."

"I'm so excited to be celebrating library card sign-up month and World Literacy Day with y'all and Fort Bend County Libraries," Lizzo said in that pre-recorded video ahead of the Sept. 8 Read-A-Thon.

Fort Bend County Libraries Director Roosevelt Weeks has said that at least 30 percent of people in the Houston area cannot read and that more than 4 million Texas adults read below a basic level.

The Missouri City Branch Library hosts regular story time programs. The next Pajama Night Story Time is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 21, at 6 p.m. at the library on Texas Parkway.