I’m sure we all remember waking up to the sound of the Reading Rainbow theme song echoing across the house. It was a catchy melody with the lyrics, “Butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as high. Just take a look. It’s in a book. It’s Reading Rainbow!” When I was a child, I would get out of bed every morning and walk into the living room where I would proceed to watch LeVar Burton and his student helpers read me a story. It took me a while to get into reading. I thought it was boring, and I definitely wouldn’t touch a book if it didn’t have pictures. Reading Rainbow was the only way I enjoyed books when I was young, so when they decided to cancel the show and take it off the air, I was heartbroken. Of course by that time, I was in my teen years and didn’t watch the show at all anymore. However, if I could benefit from the program, then I wanted other children to as well.
A few months ago, while I was going through my daily news feed on Facebook, I came across an interesting article. Burton had just announced that he was launching a Kickstarter campaign to take the previous Reading Rainbow app for eReaders and tablets and expand it to smartphones, computers, and even classrooms. Burton released the app back in 2012 for a fee, but teachers and students thought classrooms should be able to access it for free. With the help of Kickstarter, he was able to upgrade the existing app with new content and provide low-income schools with the app free of charge. The main monetary goal of the campaign was $1 million; within thirty-five days, it reached $5 million. It was thrilling to know that such a program had gained so much support.
Burton has opened up a window for children to experience Reading Rainbow through modern devices, and I think it is a great innovation. It may not be quite the same as the nostalgic television show, but children of this decade will be impacted by the brand just as I was. And I’m sure the theme song will be stuck in the heads of every child in America.
Check out the website: http://www.readingrainbow.com/