Happy Birthday to Reading Rainbow-30th Anniversary

Reading Rainbow celebrated its 30th anniversary at Dylan’s Candy Bar at Farmers Market.  Host, Levar Burton was on hand to read for his very enthusiastic audience of young readers. With candy, reading poetry and great giveaways it was a fun event for the entire family. For three decades (June 1983 – November 2006), the multi-award winning television program, Reading Rainbow hosted by Burton, encouraged readingamong young children and eventually went on to become the third-longest running children’s series in PBS history, after Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and Sesame Street.

And today, the Reading Rainbow brand shines brighter than ever with the ReadingRainbow App (iPad and Kindle) where it continues to engage children about literature and reading in a new digital age.  Within hours of the release of theReading Rainbow App in June 2012, it became the #1 educational app in the country where it continues to win awards and acclaim, most recently being named one of the top APP’s by PC MAGAZINE.

Best known for his Reading Rainbow stewardship as well as his other TV roles (most notably Kunta Kinte on Roots and Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation), LeVar Burton comes from a family of educators and is widely recognized for his lifelong advocacy of children’s literacy.

Still photos by Curtis Sabir