In a recent interview with the GalleyCat Blog, Reading Rainbow creator LeVar Burton, discussed the reason for the cancellation of the beloved children’s program. The answer is simple, yet sad: politics are to blame. “That’s the story that a lot of folks don’t get. No Child Left Behind is doing exactly that, and so the mandate is to teach kids how to read, the rudiments of reading, and there was no money in the budget to foster a love of reading,” he explained. “Look, we have spent so much money on the machinery of war in the last 10, 12 years, we are having to make really ridiculous choices. And we’re sacrificing our kids, literally sacrificing our kids.”

In order to continue his vision for Reading Rainbow, Burton, along with business partner Mark Wolfe, secured the rights to the brand and re-launched it as an iPad app, produced by their company RRKidz. The free Reading Rainbow app features clips from the popular TV show, over 150 books, 16 video field trips, as well as other interactive activities. Read more…

The Emmy winning PBS series Reading Rainbow had been entertaining and educating children for 26 years when it lost it’s funding in 2009 and went off the air. LeVar Burton, the program’s host and executive producer, believes that the show’s core message of teaching kids the joy of reading is still vital, and hopes to revive the series using digital media. “There is a brand new generation of kids who could definitely use the kind of spark and inspiration Reading Rainbow provided where actually becoming a reader is concerned,” said Burton in an interview with Mashable. “As far as I can tell, reading will never go out of style, and neither will good old fashioned storytelling.” Read more…