LeVar Burton 'Reading Rainbow' App Coming Soon

LeVar Burton is hoping to bring "Reading Rainbow" to a digital generation with a new app.

Burton produced and hosted "Reading Rainbow" for 21 seasons, earning 26 Emmy awards, 10 for hosting alone, and a Peabody Award. The show introduced children to popular, and classic, books focused on a theme.

He took to Twitter in 2010 to announce: "Reading Rainbow 2.0 is in the works. Stay tuned for more info. But, you don't have to… [take my word for it]." He told Mashable, "There is a brand new generation of kids who could definitely use the kind of spark and inspiration 'Reading Rainbow' provided where actually becoming a reader is concerned."

"The center point of the app is books, wonderful, lightly enhanced digital books for children. However, we're also very interested in delivering an enriching experience to kids, much like classic 'Reading Rainbow' did on TV."

The app is just the beginning of Burton's plan, which will introduce DVDs and classic episodes being streamed. Burton said that literacy is very important to him, and he hopes to spur new kids' love of reading. "As the son of an English teacher, I have always believed that the written word, books, are a critical component in the development and life enhancement of children everywhere."

"Every day of my life someone comes up to me and tells me about the impact that the show had on them growing up. This is simply my way of continuing to do what I've always done, just in a different medium."

DVDs of the entire 21 seasons are available through Burton's website, RRKidz. Individual episodes are not available yet, though that is something Burton is working on. No release date for the app is known yet.

Last week Burton was able to obtain the "Reading Rainbow" handle from a Twitter user not affiliated with the program. He currently has 1.7 million followers, showing that he is still very much a public figure.