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Star Trek: The New Generation and Reading Rainbow star, LeVar Burton, joins Shira Lazar and co-host Lamarr Wilson on What’s Trending to chat about his Reading Rainbow iPad app, which is available now at the iTunes store!
Since the 80s, Burton has been bringing the joy of reading to young kids through engaging television programs, and now he’s making the move to mobile devices.
“This is the wired generation,” LeVar says. “And television only occupies a very small amount of screen time in their lives. I knew that we wanted to keep the Reading Rainbow brand alive and…if you want to reach kids today, you really have to be on mobile devices.”
LeVar is resolved in saying that these types of apps won’t replace print books. “Human beings are just way too connected to the written word as it appears in a book,” LeVar says. “I think the fact that we will consume most of our reading on electronic devices going forward means that we will hold more precious the books that we do have.”
The Reading Rainbow app is created for the 3-9 year old, entry level, reading-aged child, but would LeVar ever consider developing one for parents and adults? ‘Yes, in the fullness of time, we will be getting around to a version,” LeVar says. “It’s something that’s been on my mind for quite some time.”
As a Reading Rainbow book reviewing master, LeVar also took a look at classic YouTube book reviews, 3 Golden Sisters on 50 Shades of Grey  and The Hunger Games Review by K8, and let us know if they met the stringent Reading Rainbow standard.
Follow @LeVarBurton and @ReadingRainbow on Twitter.
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