Reading Rainbow Is Back

"Butterfly in the sky, I can fly twice as high.." If you can hear this song playing in your head, you're probably pretty excited about the return of Reading Rainbow. The educational show, launched in 1983 with beloved host (and Star Trek star) LeVar Burton, ran for 23 years.

Now, 20 years after its last episode, Reading Rainbow is being rebooted. And can we just say that, after years of TV and movie remakes, this is one show that truly deserves to be revisited? With literacy skills declining and reports that Gen-Z parents find reading to their kids boring, Reading Rainbow couldn't come at a better time.

Who's the host?

While we'd love to hear Burton's calming voice again, he won't be returning as host. (But you can listen to LeVar Burton Reads, a podcast where Burton reads sci-fi stories for adults. While the podcast is no longer recording, there are almost 200 episodes to listen to.)

The new host is Mychal Threets, a librarian and social media creator known for his joyful storytelling. Threets first went viral in 2023, when his heartfelt library anecdotes on TikTok captured millions of views. In one of his most beloved videos, he shared a moment from the library where a child picked up a Spanish-language book but couldn’t read it. Another child jumped in to help—despite not actually knowing Spanish—simply because he “loves people.” As the two tried to puzzle it out together, a third child who did speak Spanish joined them and read the story aloud, creating an impromptu circle of readers. The video earned tens of millions of views and was even shared by Jennifer Garner, cementing Threets as a voice for “library joy.”

Threets left his job as a librarian in early 2024 after being criticized online. Critics said he was "weird" and had a "dark spirit". He said he was taking time for his mental health and denied that the cyberbullying alone drove his decision, but did acknowledge that the comments were hurtful. He recently posted a video to TikTok saying, "The fact that we're alive is a miracle. I tried so hard to leave the world and I've never been more happy to have failed something." He goes on to thank others for staying and to encourage them to stick around to do the things they love, like visiting libraries or taking silly little walks for your mental health.

What else is new?

Reading Rainbow will feature celebrity guest stars, including Dancing With the Stars‘ Rylee Arnold and Ezra Sosa, Fantastic Four actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach and authors like 14-year-old Bellen Woodland, who wrote the children's book More Than Peach. Gabrielle Union, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen also narrate books that are read on the show.

When and where to watch

The new Reading Rainbow debuts on Saturday, October 4.  It will stream on YouTube on the KidZuko channel, which is operated by Sony Pictures Television. The show is produced by Buffalo Toronto Public Media.