For 23 years — from 1983 to 2006 — Reading Rainbow was a tentpole of PBS' children's programming, featuring host LeVar Burton, various celebrity guests, and the show's ensemble of kids reading children's books, performing original songs, going on field trips, and more. For example, see Burton talk with folk legend Pete Seeger, who reads Abiyoyo, a kids' book he wrote based on an South African folk story, in the above video.
Now, it looks like the program might be making a comeback. Burton and his team got together to release a Reading Rainbow app for iPad two years ago, which included a library of kids' books as well as new field trip videos featuring Burton, and now they want to go further. They've set up a Kickstarter to put the show's library on the web, revamp it for use in classrooms, and provide it free of charge to needy schools. Here's Burton's pitch:
As of this writing, the campaign has $406,440 pledged from 8,882 backers, with a total goal of $1 million; as with all Kickstarter projects, it only gets the money if it hits its goal. You can contribute here if you like. And if they reach $1 million, the team "will launch a new version of Reading Rainbow on the single most-used digital platform: the web." In that case, a Donald Glover episode would appear to be in order, given how well the time he met Burton on Community went:
Update: As of a day after launching, the Kickstarter is at $1.7 million, well above the original ask. So the odds for new content are looking good!
