Reading Rainbow

I loved this show as a child. I am a teacher's Aide now for kindergarten students and they watch this show during library! They love it! I am so glad that this show still exists! When I was a child in the early 80s,the media had became a big part of children's lives, and its even more so now. Computers, video games, and fast paste shows, are great but they tend to take children's attention span away, which makes school less enjoyable even for the brightest children. Fortunately, in this show, the media puts children's books to life motivating children to read, which is perfect for children in this technical society! As an education major, I am really glad to have this opportunity to support this show!

Back when I was a toddler and maybe up to 2nd grade, these shows were honestly what I watched everyday and this is one of them. I was honestly hooked to this show even if it did seem a little outdated for it's time. I loved the stories LeVar would read since it filled my imagination.

Nowadays, there's no shows that are like this anymore to be honest with you. Except for maybe Sesame Street (but that show is probably never going to end), and maybe a few others. To the parents that want to show their kids a classic TV show, then I definitely recommend this one.

I used to love this show! I watched it religiously for years, and wish I had time to watch it now. This show really turned me on to reading as a kid, and we need more shows like this to get kids who have 100+ channels, computers and multiple video games back to the basics of reading. While the theme song was trite, it was catchy & easy to remember. And even though some aspects of the program on the overdone side, this show has wonderful "bones", & contributed overwhelmingly to my childhood, and the childhoods of many others as well.

While it has been years since I used to religiously watch 'Reading Rainbow,' I do remember how much I loved it.

Each episode had a particular theme such as teaching kids about different occuptaions or perhaps places. The show's charismatic host, LaVar Burton might travel to a factory to show kids how cheese is made, or play co-pilot in an airplane. So, each episode, provided something different about the world and the people in it to kids, giving them a very diversified and educational show. Additionally, the show would end with suggested reading for people interested in the show's themes. And these books were usually presented with a brief review from kids. I remember our library even had a section of books that had appeared on Reading Rainbow.

LaVar Burton's educational journeys were not the only part of the show. They also read a book during each episode, which was read either by Mr. Burton or by some celebrity reader (I remember James Earl Jones read one of my favorite books about a young African boy who was a rainmaker, though the name escapes me), and they displayed the pictures on the screen. I think they displayed it with the words so you could read along, but I don't remember. I know it wasn't like watching a storyteller sit and read the book to a bunch of kids and showing them the book. You actually got to see the book yourself while the voice was dubbed along. It was a good show that encouraged reading and interest in a whole lot of things. Then again, PBS had a lot of shows like that at the time--Math Net (a take on Dragnet in which the detectives used math to solve each mystery); Square One (a variety educational program); 3-2-1 Contact (which I don't remember much, except for the name); and so forth.

If they don't run the reruns or if Reading Rainbow has retired long ago, I wish that they would try to get kids interested in that again. It did more than just trying to encourage kids to read, it tried to teach them about a lot of different things. I still remember the show that took you inside of a macaroni manufacturing plant and a crayon manufacturing plant. It was cool.

As a child of the 80s "Reading Rainbow" was a big part of television for me.

I remember watching it in school sometimes and I LOVED it. Lavar Burton is an awesome host. Hosting the same show for so many years shows his dedication to literacy among children. Each show taught you about a few different books. I even remember the theme song and does my 16-year-old brother. I haven't seen it in years though. For some odd reason PBS doesn't are it in the Atlanta area. I highly recommend this show for parents now. "Reading Rainbow" is a rare show that is educational and entertaining. If it were still aired here, this is one 22-year-old that would still watch it!