UPDATE: LeVar Burton and the Reading Rainbow team have reached their $1 million goal on Kickstarter in less than a day.
Earlier story: Millions of children grew up to the show “Reading Rainbow” and now LeVar Burton, its host, wants to bring it back for a new generation.
The actor wants to re-boot the show via a Web series and launched a Kickstarter campaign today to do it. The campaign already has more than 14,000 backers and $600,000 (climbing fast!) in heading toward its $1 million goal. It also has 34 days to go.
“Hi. LeVar Burton here. You may know me as Kunta Kinte, from ‘ROOTS,’ or Geordi La Forge, from ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation,'” the actor wrote. “You also may have grown up with me on ‘Reading Rainbow.’ It was my mother who taught me that, by picking up a book, I could “go anywhere” and “be anything.” Ever since Reading Rainbow began in 1983, I have dedicated myself to fostering a love of reading in children, just as my mother did for me.”
Burton said he has been inspired by Kickstarter over the last year and decided this was the way to get the show, which ran from 1983 to 2006, back on the air in some form.
“I believe that every child has a right, and a need, to be literate. We have a responsibility to prepare our children … and right now, the numbers show that we, as a society, are failing in that responsibility,” he added. “Right now, 1 out of every 4 children in America will grow up illiterate.”
He continued, “Now, I am hoping you will join me on my mission: to bring Reading Rainbow back for every child, everywhere.”
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SOURCE: ABC News
Michael Rothman
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