| Reading Rainbow | |
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| Genre | |
| Created by |
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| Presented by |
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| Theme music composer |
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| Composer | Steve Horelick |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 22 |
| No. of episodes | 159(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | |
| Release | July 11, 1983 (1983-07-11)[1][2] – November 10, 2006 (2006-11-10)[3][4] |
| Network | YouTube |
| Release | October 4, 2025 (2025-10-04) – present |
Reading Rainbow is an American educationalchildren's television series designed to encourage a love of books andreading. The original series aired onPBS andPBS Kids from July 11, 1983[1][2] to November 10, 2006, with each episode based on a featured children's book, which is discovered through a number of on-location segments or stories.[3] Episodes also feature children recommending books to find at thelocal library. Thepublic television series garnered over 200 broadcast awards, including aPeabody Award and 26Emmy Awards, ten as Outstanding Children's Series.[5]Sony Pictures' child-oriented KidZuko brand revived the series onYouTube starting in October 4, 2025.[6]
The concept of a reading series for children began with Twila Liggett, PhD, who partnered with Cecily and Larry Lancit of Lancit Media Productions in New York to create the television series. The original team also included Lynne Brenner Ganek, Ellen Schecter, and hostLeVar Burton. The show's title was conceived by an intern at WNED.[7] Before its official premiere, the show aired for test audiences in theNebraska andBuffalo, New York, markets (their PBS member stations, theNebraska ETV andWNED-TV, respectively, were co-producers of the show).Reading Rainbow was the first PBS children's show to be broadcast instereo sound. It is the fifth longest-running children's series in PBS history, afterCyberchase,Arthur,Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, andSesame Street (until its move toHBO in 2016).
Reading Rainbow is hosted by actor and executive producerLeVar Burton,[8] who when the show premiered was then known for his role inRoots. The show was produced first by Lancit Media Entertainment (1983–2001), and later On-Screen Entertainment (2002–2006). Every episode features a different children'spicture book, often narrated by a celebrity (such as Phylicia Rashad and others). The featured story's illustrations were scanned by the camera in a technique known as "iconographic animation" of each page shown in succession, although on certain occasions the shots would be animated.
After the featured story, Burton visits many places relating to the episode's theme, often featuring interviews with guests. A notable example is the season 6 premiere episode, which features the bookThe Bionic Bunny Show byMarc Brown and his wife Laurene, and includes a behind-the-scenes look at the TV seriesStar Trek: The Next Generation, in which Burton was a main cast member.
The last segment of almost every episode, called Book Reviews, begins with Burton's introductory catchphrase, "But you don't have to take my word for it", and features children giving capsule reviews of books they liked. At the end of almost every episode, Burton signs off by telling the audience "I'll see you next time", with a review of the books featured in that episode beginning in season 2.
The series' pilot, which was created and produced in 1981 and aired as the show's eighth episode in 1983, features the bookGila Monsters Meet You at the Airport by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and is narrated by Doug Parvin. Producer Larry Lancit's daughters, Shaune and Caitlin, were often featured in the series, notably as the children thanking the sponsors at the beginning and end of the show.
The show's theme song was written by Steve Horelick, Dennis Neil Kleinman, and Janet Weir; the former also served as the series' music director and composer for all 155 episodes and received an Emmy nomination in 2007 for his work on the series. Over the show's 23-year run, it went through three different versions of the theme song. The original theme (used from 1983 to 1999) was performed byTina Fabrique[9] and featured one of the first uses of theBuchla synthesizer in a TV theme song. The original opening sequence, which consisted of an animated butterfly transforming the surroundings of young children reading books into animated fantasy lands, was used until January 1, 1999. The introductory animation was produced by Ovation Films, Inc. and designed and animated by Bill Davis. Some episodes (from 1983 through 1999) have the end credits accompanied by the full version of the 1983–99 theme song (sung by the same singer, Tina Fabrique), with some episodes (with the said song) repeating two or three times.
On January 4, 1999, episodes began using a new live-action opening sequence and featuring CGI in a new space-themed world, with a new arrangement of the original song by Steve Horelick and performed byJohnny Kemp. A third intro was used starting on May 8, 2000, with a rerecorded version and the original lyrics performed by R&B artistChaka Khan. This opening sequence is mostly the same as the second one, but features footage of Burton in place of some of the animated elements.
Original production of the series was to have ended after April 4, 2005, with the show continuing to air inreruns, but Burton said on February 7, 2006, that five new episodes of the show would be shot the same year despite the continuing financial issues of PBS.[10] The show aired its last original episode on November 10, 2006, and continued to air reruns until August 28, 2009.
Not only was PBS unable to secure enough funds to cover the costs associated with renewing broadcast rights and continuing reruns, the show's core philosophy was challenged as well.Reading Rainbow prominently featured published books throughout each episode, and licensing those books to be read aloud on the air was costly—an expensive move that producing station WNED decided not to make.[11][12] Prior to the cancellation, theCorporation for Public Broadcasting and theU.S. Department of Education provided funds for the production ofReading Rainbow and a number of other PBS children's series throughout the early 2000s. The "Ready-to-Learn" grant was designed for television programming that encourages early childhood learning and development. However, under theNo Child Left Behind Act, this grant was focused much more narrowly toward programs that teach literacy skills, phonics, and spelling after 2005. SinceReading Rainbow was initially developed upon fostering a love of reading books, and not necessarily developing reading skills, the funding was redirected toward other programs, and led to the launch of new skills-based programming, likeSuper Why!,WordWorld, and a new reboot ofThe Electric Company.[13]
In Spring 2024, reruns of the show began airing on the free streaming channel PBS Retro[14] and toward the end of 2024 on a free streaming channel on Amazon Prime Video,[15] where it has also been available on demand and through the PBS Kids subscription service.[16]
Former executive producerLeVar Burton announced on his Twitter feed on March 19, 2010, that "Reading Rainbow 2.0 is in the works."[17] In 2011,WNED, the PBS affiliate inBuffalo, New York that owns the Reading Rainbow brand, licensed rights to the brand to Burton and his company, RRKidz. On March 4, 2012, he announced that it was the "last day of shooting before launch!"[18]
On June 13, 2012, in a special presentation atApple Inc's annualWorld Wide Developers Conference, Burton and his business partner, Mark Wolfe, introduced the newReading Rainbow iPad App.[19] It became available in Apple's iTunes Store on June 20, 2012, and within 36 hours was the #1 educational app.[20] The RRKidz app offered children unlimited books, video field trips starring Burton, and rewards for reading. In January 2014, theReading Rainbow App surpassed 10 million books read and video field trips watched in 18 months.[21]
Reading Rainbow celebrated its 30th anniversary in July 2013.[22]
On May 28, 2014, LeVar Burton launched aKickstarter campaign to revive the show and materials. In under 12 hours, the show had reached its $1 million goal.[23] A stretch goal was to create an educational version for schools to use, free of cost to those schools in need, and help the nation get back to high literacy rates. The following day, they reached $2 million (double their goal) at 1:15 pm PST.[24] The campaign raised $5,408,916 on Kickstarter[25] with another $1 million fromFamily Guy creator/animatorSeth MacFarlane and $70,000 raised via direct contributions, for a grand total of $6,478,916.
With 105,857 backers, the campaign set a Kickstarter record for most backers, and in June 2015 was the 8th highest amount raised on the platform.[26]
The first product of the campaign wasSkybrary by Reading Rainbow, launched in May 2015 as a web-based subscription service offering the Reading Rainbow app experience. In addition to narrating many of the books, Burton hosted video fieldtrips which connected kids to real world experiences at places like NASA HQ and Niagara Falls.[27]
In March 2016, RRKidz launched a new online educational service calledReading Rainbow Skybrary for Schools, which followed the same mission of the television series, while expanding to integrate into classroom curriculums.[28]
In August 2017, WNED filed a wide-ranging lawsuit against Burton and RRKidz that demanded Burton's company hand over administrative access to other websites and social media accounts. The lawsuit also sought to enjoin Burton from using theReading Rainbow catchphrase, "But you don't have to take my word for it", on his podcast.[29]
In October 2017, WNED and RRKidz settled out of court. While the exact terms were confidential, the result was that RRKidz was no longer a licensee of theReading Rainbow brand. RRKidz was rebrandedLeVar Burton Kids and its services (including Skybrary) removed mentions toReading Rainbow. In addition, Burton was allowed to continue using theReading Rainbow catchphrase.[30] The officialReading Rainbow website stated "Recent legal disputes between WNED and LeVar Burton/RRKIDZ have been resolved and RRKIDZ no longer licenses theReading Rainbow brand from WNED. WNED is currently working on the next chapter ofReading Rainbow and will continue its mission of fostering education for a new generation."[31]
WNED announced in November 2018 that research and development had begun on a newReading Rainbow program thanks to a $200,000 grant fromThe John R. Oishei Foundation.[32]
Skybrary was acquired byReading is Fundamental in March 2019.[33]
In December 2021, it was announced that the show would be revived asReading Rainbow Live, an interactive special featuring several hosts, dubbed "The Rainbows". The special premiered on Looped on March 6, 2022.[34][35]
On September 29, 2025, Reading Rainbow announced via a trailer posted to social media and their website that new episodes are in production. The revival is hosted byMychal Threets and will feature guest stars includingRylee Arnold,Ezra Sosa, Bellen Woodard, andEbon Moss-Bachrach.[36] The revival was released onYouTube via Kidzuko, an online channel owned by Sony Pictures, with production continuing to be handled by WNED parent company Buffalo/Toronto Public Media.[37]
The photographing of the Feature Book segments was by:
In 1995, the creators launched the first contest called "Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators Contest". The annual writing and illustrating competition for children grades K through 3 continued until 2009 when it was relaunched as "PBS Kids Go! Writers Contest". It was renamed to thePBS Kids Writers Contest in 2014.
July 11, 1983 was the birth of one of WNED PBS's most decorated series, "Reading Rainbow".
[Tony] Buttino: An intern at WNED came up with the name Reading Rainbow.
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