First Lady Mari Culver paid a visit to an elementary school in Ankeny today. Teacher Lori Reha’s first-grade students at East Elementary wrote a book about the State of Iowa, which they dedicated to the Governor and presented to his wife.

Mari Culver read the book — titled “Iowa, Iowa, What Do You See?” — as the students sat on the classroom floor and listened. Each one of the 24 students in the class wrote one page of text and drew a corresponding picture. Culver read the first page and then asked who drew the map of the state of Iowa. “Hannah,” the students responded.

“Very nice work, Hannah,” Culver said. The students also quizzed the First Lady about her husband. “Why does he have to make laws?” One girl asked. “Well, laws are another word for rules, right? We have to have rules, so it’s not all crazy,” Culver responded. Questions from other students ranged from “what is your home like?” — to — “have you ever seen an oak tree?”

Culver drew the biggest response from the students when she explained that Kansas has a woman for a governor and her husband prefers to be called “the first dude.”

The students erupted in laughter.