‘Reading Rainbow’ is back and stars Mychal Threets, the internet’s favorite librarian
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- Beloved children’s literacy series “Reading Rainbow” returns after 20 years with Mychal Threets, the viral Bay Area librarian, as host of the digital reboot.
- The YouTube-based revival honors LeVar Burton’s legacy while featuring celebrity narrators including John Legend, Chrissy Teigen and Adam DeVine.
“Reading Rainbow” is returning with a new host, new books and a new digital home.
The trailer announcing the reboot of the classic PBS series was released Monday, with host Mychal Threets — also known as Mychal the Librarian — teasing new episodes with celebrity guests, art projects and more.
“I was raised on Reading Rainbow,” Threets wrote in a post on Threads, “LeVar Burton is my hero. I am a reader, I am a librarian because LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow so powerfully made us believe we belong in books, we belong everywhere.”
Despite facing political headwinds and raising ‘suspicion’ among publishers, ‘Reading Rainbow’ introduced generations of American kids to books.
Threets is best known as the joyful and welcoming Bay Area librarian who shares heartwarming anecdotes on social media about interactions with patrons and other happenings to get out the message that libraries are for everyone.
“Oh! If you’re upset because I’m not LeVar Burton… GET BEHIND ME!” he added in a follow-up post. “I am at the front of that line! ... We all want the LeVar Burton Reading Rainbow Storytime read aloud treatment! [But] I’ll be doing all I can to make him and all the library kids proud.”
The original “Reading Rainbow,” with beloved host Burton, launched in 1983 and was a PBS staple for more than 23 years. The Emmy and Peabody Award-winning series championed books and reading for 155 episodes during its original run, becoming one of the longest-running children’s programs ever.
“It portrays reading in a fun light,” Burton said of the show in 1993. “It’s a fun activity and presents reading as an adventure.”
Forty years after the launch of ‘Reading Rainbow,’ ‘Star Trek’ actor LeVar Burton is championing literacy programs for children with the documentary ‘The Right to Read.’
Among the guests teased in the trailer are “Dancing With the Stars” pros Rylee Arnold and Ezra Sosa, as well as “The Bear” actor and cat dad Ebon Moss-Bachrach. Also featured will be books narrated by Jamie Chung, Adam DeVine, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen. Episodes of the new “Reading Rainbow” will hit Sony Pictures Television’s kid-focused YouTube channel Kidzuko.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the reboot will debut Saturday with subsequent new episodes dropping weekly until Oct. 25.
