Reading Rainbow is coming back, but this time the show will be more tech-based and will appear on multiple platforms to represent the new generation of learners.
Actor LeVar Burton—also the longtime host and producer of Reading Rainbow—recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to revive and add new life to what was once a popular learning show for children, encouraging them to read and explore.
Fans of the show must have been hungry for its return, since Burton’s goal to raise $1 million was met within a day, and there are still more than 30 days left to raise money. The plan for the new show is to have it air across all platforms and include a "classroom version" for teachers to supplement learning.
Burton also promised in the video that goes along with the campaign that portions of the fundraising would go toward subsidizing the program to make it free for schools in need.
Contributors—who can still donate as little as $5 to upward of $3,000—receive various forms of "swag," from a tweet shout-out to a private dinner with Burton. Some lucky donors may even get to wear the visor he wore in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
"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 explained on the campaign site.
"Over the past year, I have watched Kickstarter bring communities together to support artists and inventors. Again and again, I have been inspired by watching like-minded people team up to accomplish impossible dreams, and to change the world. Now, I am hoping you will join me on my mission: to bring Reading Rainbow back for every child, everywhere."