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!

This was such a great show. I especially loved the story book time. I also really liked the showing how things are done.

I think my favorite of all the episodes would be visiting LeVar's other workplace - the set of Star Trek TNG in its first season. It was one of the first times that they actually showed how they did all the special effects (I only wish that they waited a couple more seasons to make this episode because they might've had some Borg makeup). Now, with DVDs, this episode is pointless, but I still don't care.

On a personal note, one of my friends briefly appeared in an episode. He was 6 (like me) at the time. It was the episode of the Library of Congress and he and his mom are seen running up the stairs. He told me that if he knew better, he would've gone over to LeVar because he would've met Geordi LaForge (but this was a year before TNG even started and there are still ST conventions). Yeah, we are both geeks at heart.

I grew up watching this show, it first appeared when I was 4 years old. I watched it as I learned to read and as I progressed through school. I still watch it on the occasions I find it on PBS, and I'm now a 22 year old grad student in Literature. I think this show really helps instill the value of reading in young kids--values that will follow them throughout life. I can't think of a better show for kids. And unlike most children's programs, it doesn't lose its charm no matter how old you get. A great great show, one of my personal favorites and a big reason I'm studying English and Literature today.

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.

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.