Butterfly in the sky...
I can fly twice as high...
Take a look...
It's in a book...
Reading Rainbow!
Anyone else remember that show? For over 26 years, LeVar Burton hosted PBS' children's literacy show, Reading Rainbow.
I used to watch it religiously when I was little. I credit it -- and Sesame Street, of course -- as being instrumental in my love of reading.
In fact, I loved Reading Rainbow so much that I even auditioned to be in one of the on-air book report segments at the end of the show. I still remember my mom picking me up early from school to take the bus into The City (yes, it's capitalized, because I'm referring to NYC) for the audition.
Alas, I didn't get it. :( The first of many rejections for me in the publishing world, unfortunately. But it didn't make me love the show, or books, any less.
Reading Rainbow came to the end of its 26-year run last Friday, after winning mroe than two dozen Emmys. It was the third longest running children's show in PBS history. Only Sesame Street and Mister Rogers beat it out.
In explaining why the show ended, John Grant, who is in charge of content at Reading Rainbow's home station WNED, explained that there's been a shift in educational TV programming philosophy, starting with the Department of Education under the recent Bush administration (had to put that "recent" in there, because Reading Rainbow outlived both Bush Sr. and Jr.'s administrations).
The Department of Education wanted to see a heavier emphasis on the basic tools of reading, such as phonics or spelling. PBS, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Department of Education put significant funding towards programming that teaches kids how to read.
Reading Rainbow, on the other hand, taught kids why to read.
So I think it's sad to see a show focused on the sheer joy of reading end. My hope is that kids today will continue to learn the joy of books, and not just read because they have to.
