Wednesday, July 25, 2012

'Reading Rainbow' Reinvented


One of my fondest television memories involved two men- Mr. Rogers and LeVar Burton— of 'Reading Rainbow' fame.  Both aired on PBS for the duration of my young childhood, and both instilled in me a great love of books. I have such fond memories of Mr. LevVar Burton that I became a follower of his on Twitter (no, I'm not a stalker), and was thrilled to recently see that he has reinvented Reading Rainbow for this generation of youngsters, in the form of an iTunes app.


Although the regular Reading Rainbow show went off the air in 2009 due to lack of funding and contract negotiations, the basis for the app is related to the original concept. Sure, teaching children TO read is important, but it is equally as important to teach them WHY to read. The app picks up where the television show left off, helping children become interested in books and reading, while reaching their preference of the tech-savvy generation, on a tablet.

According to an article in People Magazine, at launch the app had 150+ books and 16 "field trips" reminiscent of the classic television show. According to an article in the Atlantic,  the app includes one free book, afterward parents will have to buy a subscription to the app.


Sounds reasonable enough to me, let the reading continue!


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