LeVar Burton is famous for many things. Star Trek Enterprise, Reading Rainbow, and Roots are just a few. Now he has written his first book and he was at ALA to talk about it. The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm. is a rhyming book about courage, healing and friendship.
He also spoke about his kick starter project that raised 5.4 million dollars to bring Reading Rainbow to school in need for free. There is a Reading Rainbow app that you can download for your devices. The program is now available as an app, and on the web. (Click on the Reading Rainbow picture for an example of the program.)Finally, he spoke about how important it is for parents to not only read to their children but to also read in front of them as an example of reading for pleasure.
LeVar left time for questions and comments after his speech. What amazed me was the number of people who thanked him for the Reading Rainbow program and how fostered there love of reading. The story that spoke to me the most was told by a fellow librarian who grew up in a family where both of her parents were illiterate but they wanted to encourage their kids to read so everyday they watched the Reading Rainbow together and now she and both her siblings are voracious readers. Unfortunately, I could not meet him because I had a meeting to go to.
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