Hey, remember Reading Rainbow?

Of course you do. Everyone does.

I was a voracious reader as a kid. All the time. Anything I could get my hands on. I was the kid who’d sneak books off of the classroom cart to read during class, hidden under the lip of my desk. I’d spend hours at the library after school, working my way through the genre fiction section, seasoned with interesting bits of nonfiction.

Once on vacation my mom made sure the only book in the car was War and Peace, just because she wanted to see if I’d read it.

At twelve I didn’t like it, but what was I going to do? Not read?

I also watched a lot of PBS. I have vague memories of the Electric Company, Fawlty Towers, and literally sneaking out after my bed-time to watch Doctor Who with my parents from behind the couch.

Reading-frickin’-Rainbow

I also watched a ton of Reading Rainbow. A show about books, right?

LeVar Burton wasn’t the reason I read, but he gave me the positive reinforcement to continue. And the theme song – who doesn’t remember the theme song? An ode to escapism for a kid with a maybe not-so-always-great life. Books kept me going all the way through high-school, and they’re still the entertainment option I reach for when I have the time for leisure.

More importantly, for an author, they’re a recharge of our word-banks. They get us outside our own creative schema, so we don’t forget to innovate our use of language.

Reading Rainbow was canceled in 2006

Yeah, I didn’t know it was still on either, still hosted by LeVar Burton, but there you have it. Has anything taken up the mantle of championing child literacy? I don’t know. I hope so. Books are constantly facing competition from other entertainment sources, and since I’m a writer, that means a shrinking market. More importantly, I don’t want to live in a world without readers.

In 2012 Burton released a Reading Rainbow iPod app. It’s apparently the most popular educational app, which is good news.

Support the Reading Rainbow Kickstarter

Today, March 28, 2014, LeVar Burton set up a kickstarter campaign to fund a new version of the show, a web-series that would also “bring Reading Rainbow’s unlimited library of interactive books and video field trips to kids everywhere and help classrooms most in need.” Free materials for classrooms, and accessibility for any child with internet access – which in the industrialized world is pretty much all of them.

I support this endeavor. So should you.

Kids need Reading Rainbow.

The kickstarter was at $35k when I noticed it, and in the hour since has almost doubled. It’s popular. But the funding goal is a cool million, so they could use your support. I’ll kick them what I can, and urge you to do the same, if you’re invested in the slightest in a future literate population.

 

Sign up for Michael Coorlim's mailing list for advanced notification of new releases, or go check out some of his free fiction while it's there for the taking.

The post Hey, remember Reading Rainbow? appeared first on Michael Coorlim.