WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will visit the Children's National Hospital in Washington on Friday to meet with pediatric patients, their families and hospital staff, the White House said.

First ladies traditionally visit the hospital around the Christmas holiday, dating back to first lady Bess Truman during the post-second world war presidency of Harry Truman. Last year, President Biden made the trip, marking the first time a sitting president made a holiday visit to Children’s National.

The president and the first lady will host a book reading of "The Snowy Day" with a group of pediatric patients, including some who participate virtually from their hospital room. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the publishing of Ezra Jack Keats’s book "The Snowy Day."

The couple will also visit children and families in the cardiac unit, the White House said.

(Reporting By Nandita Bose and Jarrett Renshaw; editing by Diane Craft)