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Okay, I'll admit that I haven't seen "Reading Rainbow" in probably twenty years since I was a bright-eyed kid sitting in front of the television following LeVar Burton bring the world of books to life. I did find it a tad corny, but tuned in regularly because I liked books. And subconsciously, I'm sure, because Burton is black. And he talked about books. How often do you see a black man talking about books on television? There wasn't (isn't?) a show like it. I felt connected to it. Over the program's twenty-six years, I'm sure there were many kids who felt the same way.

So I'm actually sad about the show's departure from the small screen. NPR reports that "Reading Rainbow" was the third longest-running program in PBS history after "Sesame Street" and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood."

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