Reading Rainbow is back — as an app

Reading Rainbow and its host, actor LeVar Burton, are back to mix entertainment and childhood learning again. Burton first hosted Reading Rainbow, then a television show, in the early 80s. The show taught children to read via virtual story adventures until 2006.

Now, the company has released an iPad app to introduce a new generation of children to an interactive literature experience, hoping kids will respond to this learning app much like they responded to predecessors on the iPad.

It's a smart move for Reading Rainbow, because the tablet market is ever-expanding. But it also warms my heart — I grew up watching Reading Rainbow. It's probably one of the reasons I read so often, and indirectly one of the reasons I'm a writer. I learned a lot watching Burton on my television, back when there were no tablets and the Internet was rudimentary at best.

The Reading Rainbow app is free to download, but you can subscribe for video stories and other premium content for $9.99/month, or $24.99 for six months.