Reading Rainbow Returns With iPad App

Take a look, it's in a book (or on an iPad) — a reading rainbow.

Since its 26-year PBS run ended in 2009, Reading Rainbow has been nothing but a fond memory for grown kids who learned that through books, they can go anywhere and be anything. But this week, reading aficionado LeVar Burton announced RRKidz, a multimedia company that will bring the Reading Rainbow experience to tablet devices.

"Reading will never go out of style, but the tools used for learning are changing," Burton said in a statement.

In building the app, designed for children three to nine years old, host Burton and producer Mark Wolfe signed deals with a number of children's book publishers, including Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Holiday House, Charlesbridge Publishing, and more.

In the spirit of the application's "fun, safe, and meaningful enriching experiences," as the RRKidz website said, kids will be able to read any of the 150 available stories on the tablet by themselves, or by following a narration provided by Burton and others.

"I am excited to bring Reading Rainbow back so that parents who watched the show can now share that same feel-good experience with their own children but on a platform that resonates with today's digital kids," Burton said.

A 2011 National Literacy Trust survey of young people's reading habits found that kids ages eight to 17 are more likely to read text messages, magazines, emails, and websites than books. Within the span of the survey, most teens said they had read one book in the past month.

While the creators wanted to focus on bringing books to the forefront, TechCrunch reported, they couldn't resist adding some bells and whistles. Story illustrations come to life through animation, and each title comes with an interactive game for kids, who are rewarded by receiving stickers each time they read a new book.

More video-enabled treats are stuffed into the app's backpack, which will be available for free, with one book plus one video field trip. For unlimited access, a monthly subscription fee of $9.99 is required; for $29.99, users get six months of endless reading.

The iPad app is now available in the iTunes store.