And this is what the t-shirt said:
Not one to favor logos on my clothing, I immediately knew I wanted that shirt. What a terrific reminder, a way to carry a thing of your childhood with you. Years had passed since I saw an episode and, I came to realize, I had no idea if the show was still on the air. It better be, I thought, because if public television can accomplish anything, running a show which promotes reading and teaches children (and those adults who pay attention) the importance of being a reader.
And I learned a few things. First, the basics. "Reading Rainbow" was a half hour program which aired on PBS from 1983 until 2006. Of course, each episode centered around a children's book, and host Levar Burton's adventures related to the theme of said featured book. Each episode featured kids giving their own reviews of books, and often featured a celebrity narrating a children's book.
But what I found most puzzling was the culprit for the show's demise. In this NPR article, John Grant, the head of programming at "Reading Rainbow" (and my own) home station WNED Buffalo, was quoted as saying that in 2006 no one was willing to fund the program any longer. Grant alluded to a shift he viewed in educational programming, a "...change [that] started with the Department of Education under the Bush administration... which wanted to see a much heavier focus on the basic tools of reading-- like phonics and spelling." He goes on to say how the Department of Education puts its funding behind teaching kids how to read, but not why, which was the mission of "Reading Rainbow." What Grant describes as "...the love of reading- [the show] encouraged kids to pick up a book and to read."
Now. I am not suggesting that George Bush killed "Reading Rainbow." But the connections, you have to admit, are that odd kind of funny. Certainly, children must have the need of being taught how to read filled, and in a time and world where we fight huge numbers of illiteracy among our youth, there is nothing more important.
But. I remember being a kid and loving to read, loving each trip to the library with my mother, and how it felt to have that love confirmed, and validated, each afternoon when Levar Burton was on the air. What I had found, what my mother had shown me, was important and would be for life. While I certainly didn't need a television show to tell me that, I didn't hurt. And I am sure that is all it takes to keep some children turning the pages. Over the last ten years, children (and us all) have been incredibly lucky with runaway, bestselling hits like Harry Potter and the "Twilight" books. But no matter how wonderful any of those books may or may not be, there is more to reading, and more for children to be taught about reading, than lies in Hogwarts.
