10 Things You Might Not Have Known About "Reading Rainbow"

by N/A, 10 years ago | 1 min read

The show that caused you to be a bookworm is a lot more interesting than you may have thought.Â

reading Television Books nostalgia literacy Literature Children's Books Reading Rainbow Non-Premium

1. Reading Rainbow ran for 26 years.

It was the 3rd longest running show in PBS history.Â

2. PBS pulled the plug on the show because of money.

Almost half a million dollars needed to be raised to renew the broadcasting rights of the show.Â

3. The No Child Left Behind Act played a part in the end of the show.

Levar Burton told Rolling Stone about how it all came to an end. â€œWe were a victim of No Child Left Behind, in that the shift in the governmental policy made a choice between teaching kids how to read and fostering a love of reading. And teaching kids how to read was the direction that No Child Left Behind mandated. We have never been about the rudiments of reading, so we were left on the minus side of that equation.â€

4. Levar Burton owns the rights to the show.

Burton bought the rights to the show after its cancellation and launched a mobile app based on the show.Â

5. A lot of different celebrities made guest appearances.

There have been more than 100 different guests on the show including Maya Angelou, Flava Flav, Julia Child, Run DMC and Kermit the Frog.Â

6. Levar Burton worked on Star Trek and Reading Rainbow at the same time.

7. Burton learned to love reading because of his mom.

His mother was an English teacher who taught him to enjoy reading by reading books around him.Â

8. There's more than one version of the theme song.

Chaka Khan recorded a version of the song in 1999, but the version you know was performed by Broadway singer Tina Fabrique.

9. A new version is on its way.

Levar Burton launched a Kickstarter campaign to bring interactive books to kids today.

10. The Kickstarter was one of the most successful in history.

The goal of the Kickstarter was to raise $1 millions in 24 hours. It actually raised $5.41 millions and will bring Reading Rainbow books and activities to more than 100,000 classrooms.