List of Reading Rainbow episodes facts for kids
Reading Rainbow was a super popular TV show on PBS that helped kids discover the joy of reading! Hosted by the awesome LeVar Burton, the show first aired on July 11, 1983. It taught millions of children to love books and explore new ideas. The final episode was on November 10, 2006, and reruns stopped on August 28, 2009. Even after the show ended, an app for Reading Rainbow was released on June 20, 2012, so more kids could keep enjoying its magic.
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Episodes of Reading Rainbow
Reading Rainbow produced 155 half-hour episodes, each one focusing on a different book or topic. LeVar Burton would introduce a main book, and then the show would explore the themes and ideas from that book through real-world segments, interviews, and other book reviews. It was like a field trip and a story time all rolled into one!
Early Adventures: Season 1 (1983)
The very first season of Reading Rainbow kicked off in 1983. All the episodes this season were directed by Larry Lancit. Here are some of the exciting books and topics they covered:
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Narrated by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Tight Times" | Patrick McCaffrey | July 11, 1983 |
| 2 | 2 | "Miss Nelson is Back" | Ruth Buzzi | July 12, 1983 |
| 3 | 3 | "Bea and Mr. Jones" | Madeline Kahn | July 13, 1983 |
| 4 | 4 | "Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain" | James Earl Jones | July 14, 1983 |
| 5 | 5 | "Louis the Fish" | Vincent Gardenia | July 15, 1983 |
| 6 | 6 | "Digging Up Dinosaurs" | Linda Gelman | July 18, 1983 |
| 7 | 7 | "Liang and the Magic Paintbrush" | Lauren Tom | July 19, 1983 |
| 8 | 8 | "Gila Monsters Meet You at the Airport" | Douglas Parvin | July 20, 1983 |
| 9 | 9 | "Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe" | Carolyn McHanon | July 21, 1983 |
| 10 | 10 | "The Gift of the Sacred Dog" | Michael Ansara | July 22, 1983 |
| 11 | 11 | "Gregory the Terrible Eater" | Marilyn Michaels | July 25, 1983 |
| 12 | 12 | "Three by the Sea" | Chicago City Limits | July 26, 1983 |
| 13 | 13 | "Arthur's Eyes" | Bill Cosby | July 27, 1983 |
| 14 | 14 | "The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash" | Kaleena Kiff and Laura Hicks | July 28, 1983 |
| 15 | 15 | "Ty's One-Man Band" | Lou Rawls | July 29, 1983 |
More Stories: Seasons 2-5 (1984-1987)
Reading Rainbow continued to bring amazing stories to life. These seasons featured many different narrators and explored a wide range of topics, from animals to space.
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Narrated by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | 1 | "Hot-Air Henry" | William Windom | July 16, 1984 |
| 17 | 2 | "Simon's Book" | Ruby Dee | July 17, 1984 |
| 18 | 3 | "Ox-Cart Man" | Lorne Greene | July 18, 1984 |
| 19 | 4 | "Mystery on the Docks" | Raul Julia | July 19, 1984 |
| 20 | 5 | "A Chair for My Mother" | Amy Linker | July 20, 1984 |
| 21 | 1 | "Paul Bunyan" | Buddy Ebsen | June 24, 1985 |
| 22 | 2 | "The Patchwork Quilt" | Isabel Sanford | June 25, 1985 |
| 23 | 3 | "Hill of Fire" | Fernando Escandon | June 26, 1985 |
| 24 | 4 | "The Tortoise and the Hare" | Gilda Radner | June 27, 1985 |
| 25 | 5 | "Perfect the Pig" | James Coco | June 28, 1985 |
| 26 | 1 | "Animal Cafe" | Martin Short | June 23, 1986 |
| 27 | 2 | "Alistair in Outer Space" | Arnold Stang | June 24, 1986 |
| 28 | 3 | "Feelings" | Various | June 25, 1986 |
| 29 | 4 | "Watch the Stars Come Out" | Laura Haymann | June 26, 1986 |
| 30 | 5 | "Mama Don't Allow" | Fred Newman | June 27, 1986 |
| 31 | 6 | "Space Case" | Michael Winslow | August 4, 1986 |
| 32 | 7 | "The Milk Makers" | Alaina Reed | August 5, 1986 |
| 33 | 8 | "Imogene's Antlers" | Imogene Coca | August 6, 1986 |
| 34 | 9 | "Germs Make Me Sick!" | Molly Mandlin | August 7, 1986 |
| 35 | 10 | "Abiyoyo" | Pete Seeger | August 8, 1986 |
| 36 | 1 | "The Life Cycle of the Honeybee" | Barbara Feldon | June 1, 1987 |
| 37 | 2 | "Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie" | Sada Thompson | June 2, 1987 |
| 38 | 3 | "Chickens Aren't the Only Ones" | Georgia Engel | June 3, 1987 |
| 39 | 4 | "The Paper Crane" | Keye Luke | June 4, 1987 |
| 40 | 5 | "The Runaway Duck" | Orson Bean | June 5, 1987 |
| 41 | 6 | "A Three Hat Day" | Zelda Rubinstein | July 27, 1987 |
| 42 | 7 | "Rumpelstiltskin" | Ralph Waite | July 28, 1987 |
| 43 | 8 | "Best Friends" | Liza Siegler | July 29, 1987 |
| 44 | 9 | "Meanwhile Back at the Ranch" | Hoyt Axton | July 30, 1987 |
| 45 | 10 | "My Little Island" | Ron Foster | July 31, 1987 |
More Great Books: Seasons 6-10 (1988-1992)
These seasons continued to introduce young viewers to amazing stories and real-world adventures. From learning about animals to exploring different cultures, there was always something new to discover.
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Narrated by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | 1 | "The Bionic Bunny Show" | Gene Klavan | August 15, 1988 |
| 47 | 2 | "Bugs" | Lori Delgado and Edwin Maldonado Jr. | August 16, 1988 |
| 48 | 3 | "The Robbery at the Diamond Dog Diner" | Peter Falk | August 17, 1988 |
| 49 | 4 | "Brush" | Hector Elizondo | August 18, 1988 |
| 50 | 5 | "The Purple Coat" | Jack Gilford | August 19, 1988 |
| 51 | 6 | "Barn Dance!" | Roy Clark | March 27, 1989 |
| 52 | 7 | "Duncan and Dolores" | Jane Curtin | March 28, 1989 |
| 53 | 8 | "Knots on a Counting Rope" | J. Ruben Silverbird and Kenneth Blank | March 29, 1989 |
| 54 | 9 | "Mummies Made in Egypt" | Corinne Orr | March 30, 1989 |
| 55 | 10 | "Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters" | Phylicia Rashad | March 31, 1989 |
| 56 | 1 | "Humphrey the Lost Whale: A True Story" | Jane Pauley | July 3, 1989 |
| 57 | 2 | "Stay Away from the Junkyard!" | Michele Mariana | July 4, 1989 |
| 58 | 3 | "Little Nino's Pizzeria" | Josh Saviano | July 5, 1989 |
| 59 | 4 | "Ludlow Laughs" | Phyllis Diller | July 6, 1989 |
| 60 | 5 | "Dinosaur Bob and His Adventures with the Family Lazardo" | Edward Asner | July 7, 1989 |
| 61 | 6 | "Dive to the Coral Reefs" | Fran Brill | March 26, 1990 |
| 62 | 7 | "Desert Giant: The World of the Saguaro Cactus" | Philip Bosco | March 27, 1990 |
| 63 | 8 | "Tooth-Gnasher Superflash" | Victoria Jackson | March 28, 1990 |
| 64 | 9 | "Bored - Nothing to Do!" | Alex Borg and David Hyman | March 29, 1990 |
| 65 | 10 | "Sports Pages" | LeVar Burton | March 30, 1990 |
| 66 | 1 | "The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth" | Keisha Knight Pulliam | September 10, 1990 |
| 67 | 2 | "Jack, the Seal and the Sea" | Leslie Uggams | September 11, 1990 |
| 68 | 3 | "The Bicycle Man" | Tom Matsusaka | September 12, 1990 |
| 69 | 4 | "Florence and Eric Take the Cake" | Julia Child | September 13, 1990 |
| 70 | 5 | "Sunken Treasure" | Robert Morse | September 14, 1990 |
| 71 | 1 | "Alistair's Time Machine" | Arnold Stang | September 16, 1991 |
| 72 | 2 | "The Adventures of Taxi Dog" | Vincent Gardenia | September 17, 1991 |
| 73 | 3 | "The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush" | Harold Littlebird | September 18, 1991 |
| 74 | 4 | "Galimoto" | Hattie Winston | September 19, 1991 |
| 75 | 5 | "Fox on the Job" | Fred Newman | September 20, 1991 |
| 76 | 6 | "Opt: An Illusionary Tale" | LeVar Burton | September 23, 1991 |
| 77 | 7 | "Raccoons and Ripe Corn, Deer at the Brook, Come Out, Muskrats" | Julia Barr | September 24, 1991 |
| 78 | 8 | "The Lady with the Ship on Her Head" | Marilyn Pasekoff | September 25, 1991 |
| 79 | 9 | "Kate Shelley and the Midnight Express" | Brian Dennehy | September 26, 1991 |
| 80 | 10 | "Snowy Day: Stories and Poems" | Lena Horne, Lacey Chabert, and Richard Courtney | September 27, 1991 |
| 81 | 1 | "Tar Beach" | Ruby Dee | October 5, 1992 |
| 82 | 2 | "The Wall" | Jason Ruggiero | October 6, 1992 |
| 83 | 3 | "Sam the Sea Cow" | Jason Robards | October 7, 1992 |
| 84 | 4 | "Rechenka's Eggs" | Viveca Lindfors | October 8, 1992 |
| 85 | 5 | "Sophie and Lou" | Jessica Walter | October 9, 1992 |
| 86 | 6 | "Come a Tide" | Dixie Carter | October 12, 1992 |
| 87 | 7 | "The Piggy in the Puddle" | Tovah Feldshuh | October 13, 1992 |
| 88 | 8 | "Seashore Surprises" | LeVar Burton | October 14, 1992 |
| 89 | 9 | "Through Moon and Stars and Night Skies" | Andrew Lei | October 15, 1992 |
| 90 | 10 | "Berlioz the Bear" | James Avery | October 16, 1992 |
Later Seasons: 11-21 (1993-2006)
Reading Rainbow continued to inspire young readers for many more years, featuring a diverse collection of books and special guests. The show kept its focus on making reading fun and connecting stories to the world around us.
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Narrated by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 91 | 1 | "Amazing Grace" | Tyne Daly | October 11, 1993 |
| 92 | 2 | "The Furry News: How to Make a Newspaper" | Cast of Forbidden Broadway and Lee Murphy | October 12, 1993 |
| 93 | 3 | "Mrs. Katz and Tush" | Reizl Bozyk and Rick English | October 13, 1993 |
| 94 | 4 | "The Salamander Room" | Lynne Thigpen | October 14, 1993 |
| 95 | 5 | "Silent Lotus" | Lea Salonga | October 15, 1993 |
| 96 | 6 | "Follow the Drinking Gourd" | Keith David | October 18, 1993 |
| 97 | 7 | "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" | Beth Howland | October 19, 1993 |
| 98 | 8 | "Is This a House for Hermit Crab?" | Eartha Kitt | October 20, 1993 |
| 99 | 9 | "And Still the Turtle Watched" | Michael Ansara | October 21, 1993 |
| 100 | 10 | "June 29, 1999" | Charles Kimbrough | October 22, 1993 |
| 101 | 1 | "Nosey Mrs. Rat" | Faith Prince | October 3, 1994 |
| 102 | 2 | "Borreguita and the Coyote" | Olga Merediz | October 4, 1994 |
| 103 | 3 | "Summer" | Ossie Davis | October 5, 1994 |
| 104 | 4 | "Once There Was a Tree" | Eli Wallach | October 6, 1994 |
| 105 | 5 | "Appelemando's Dreams" | Michael Learned | October 7, 1994 |
| 106 | 6 | "The Lotus Seed" | Rona Figueroa | October 10, 1994 |
| 107 | 7 | "Hail to Mail" | Al Roker | October 11, 1994 |
| 108 | 8 | "Stellaluna" | Anne Jackson | October 12, 1994 |
| 109 | 9 | "My Shadow" | Robert Guillaume | October 13, 1994 |
| 110 | 10 | "Ruth Law Thrills a Nation" | Linda Lavin | October 14, 1994 |
| 111 | 1 | "The Wonderful Towers of Watts" | Angela Bassett | October 2, 1995 |
| 112 | 2 | "Martha Speaks" | Jo Hayden | October 3, 1995 |
| 113 | 3 | "Alejandro's Gift" | Francisco Rivela | October 4, 1995 |
| 114 | 4 | "The Sign Painter's Dream" | Jamie Farr | October 5, 1995 |
| 115 | 5 | "Archibald Frisby" | Arnold Stang | October 6, 1995 |
| 116 | 1 | "Fly Away Home" | Daniel Saltzman | April 8, 1996 |
| 117 | 2 | "Uncle Jed's Barbershop" | Regina Taylor | April 9, 1996 |
| 118 | 3 | "How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World" | Helen Mirren | April 10, 1996 |
| 119 | 4 | "Owen" | Matthew Broderick | April 11, 1996 |
| 120 | 5 | "How Much is a Million?" | Nick Sullivan | April 12, 1996 |
| 121 | 1 | "Always My Dad" | BJ Crosby | October 7, 1996 |
| 122 | 2 | "Bread is for Eating" | Cecilia Arana and Michael Uribe | October 8, 1996 |
| 123 | 3 | "Hotel Animal" | John Cunningham | October 9, 1996 |
| 124 | 4 | "Someplace Else" | Carol Kane | October 10, 1996 |
| 125 | 5 | "Zin! Zin! Zin! a Violin" | Gregory Hines | October 11, 1996 |
| 126 | 1 | "On the Day You Were Born" | Patrick Stewart | April 7, 1997 |
| 127 | 2 | "Hip Cat" | Ann Duquesnay | April 8, 1997 |
| 128 | 3 | "Regina's Big Mistake" | Anna Holbrooks | April 9, 1997 |
| 129 | 4 | "Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message" | Nicholson Earl Billey | April 10, 1997 |
| 130 | 5 | "The Carousel" | Sarah Hubbard | April 11, 1997 |
| 131 | 1 | "Math Curse" | Michelle Trachtenberg | October 5, 1998 |
| 132 | 2 | "My Life with the Wave" | Scott Irby-Ranniar | October 6, 1998 |
| 133 | 3 | "Saturday Sancocho" | Jose de Guzman | October 7, 1998 |
| 134 | 4 | "When Aunt Lena Did the Rhumba" | Lucie Arnaz | October 8, 1998 |
| 135 | 5 | "Worksong" | David Canary | October 9, 1998 |
| 136 | 1 | "The Shaman's Apprentice: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest" | Susan Sarandon | May 8, 2000 |
| 137 | 2 | "Pet Stories You Don't Have to Walk" | Jason Alexander | November 20, 2000 |
| 138 | 3 | "Lemonade for Sale" | Andrea McArdle | January 19, 2001 |
| 139 | 4 | "The Secret Shortcut" | Tim Conway | February 16, 2001 |
| 140 | 5 | "My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States" | Lea Salonga, Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Nikki Giovanni | March 16, 2001 |
| 141 | 6 | "Badger's Parting Gifts" | Ruby Dee | April 20, 2001 |
| 142 | 1 | "The Tin Forest" | Jeff Bridges | September 3, 2002 |
| 143 | 2 | "Max" | Regina King and Ian Desdone | September 4, 2002 |
| 144 | 3 | "Enemy Pie" | Ed Harris | September 5, 2002 |
| 145 | 4 | "Our Big Home: An Earth Poem" | Naomi Judd | September 6, 2002 |
| 146 | 1 | "Visiting Day" | Alfre Woodard | December 15, 2004 |
| 147 | 2 | "Unique Monique" | Eliza Dushku | December 16, 2004 |
| 148 | 3 | "Mr. George Baker" | Wayne Brady | December 17, 2004 |
| 149 | 4 | "Beegu" | Freddie Prinze Jr. | January 20, 2005 |
| 150 | 5 | "Two Old Potatoes and Me" | Jordan Puryear | January 21, 2005 |
| 151 | 1 | "The Biggest Test in the Universe" | Richard Gere | November 6, 2006 |
| 152 | 2 | "I Lost My Tooth in Africa" | N/A | November 7, 2006 |
| 153 | 3 | "Boxes for Katje" | Elizabeth Jute | November 8, 2006 |
| 154 | 4 | "Game Day" | James Avery | November 9, 2006 |
| 155 | 5 | "Show Way" | Diahann Carroll | November 10, 2006 |
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List of Reading Rainbow episodes Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.