In 2012, an iPad and Kindle Fire educational interactive book reading and video field trip application was launched bearing the name of the program.

[6] Each episode centered on a topic from a featured children's book that was explored through a number of on-location segments or stories.

[3] At the time, it was the third-longest running children's series in PBS history, after Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.

[11] Due to a legal dispute, licensing of the Reading Rainbow brand was revoked from RRKidz in October 2017, and all its platforms (including Skybrary)[citation needed] were rebranded to LeVar Burton Kids.

A notable example is the season 6 premiere episode, which featured the book The Bionic Bunny Show by Marc Brown and his wife Laurene, and included a behind-the-scenes look at the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation, in which Burton was a main cast member.

The series' pilot, which was created and produced in 1981 and aired as the show's 8th episode in 1983, featured the book Gila Monsters Meet You at the Airport by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and was narrated by Doug Parvin.

Producer Larry Lancit's daughters, Shaune and Caitlin, were often featured in the series, notably as the children thanking the sponsors at the beginning and end of the show.

On January 4, 1999, episodes began using a new live-action opening sequence and featured CGI in a new space-themed world, with a new arrangement of the original song by Steve Horelick and performed by Johnny Kemp.

Not only was PBS unable to secure enough funds to cover the costs associated with renewing broadcast rights and continuing reruns, the show's core philosophy was challenged as well.

[15][16] Prior to the cancellation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the U.S. Department of Education provided funds for the production of Reading Rainbow and a number of other PBS children's series throughout the early 2000s.

However, under the No Child Left Behind Act, this grant was focused much more narrowly toward programs that teach literacy skills, phonics, and spelling after 2005.

[20] Former executive producer LeVar Burton announced on his Twitter feed on March 19, 2010, that "Reading Rainbow 2.0 is in the works.

"[22] On June 13, 2012, in a special presentation at Apple Inc's annual World Wide Developers Conference, Burton and his business partner, Mark Wolfe, introduced the new Reading Rainbow iPad App.

In addition to narrating many of the books, Burton hosted video fieldtrips which connected kids to real world experiences at places like NASA HQ and Niagara Falls.

[11] In March 2016, RRKidz launched a new online educational service called Reading Rainbow Skybrary for Schools, which followed the same mission of the television series, while expanding to integrate into classroom curriculums.

RRKidz was rebranded LeVar Burton Kids and its services (including Skybrary) removed references to Reading Rainbow.

"[29] WNED announced in November 2018 that research and development had begun on a new Reading Rainbow program thanks to a $200,000 grant from The John R. Oishei Foundation.