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“Butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as high . . . take a look, it’s in a book“: Reading Rainbow, PBS’ iconic kids show, is back after 20 years off the air. This time around, it’s hosted by beloved TikTok librarian Mychal Threets.
But you don’t have to take my word for it. The news was announced on September 29 through an Instagram post shared by Threets, the official Reading Rainbow account, and Buffalo Toronto Public Media. Episodes of the new series will premiere at 10 a.m. ET every Saturday during October on the KidZuko, a kids’ YouTube channel from Sony Pictures Television, as well as on Reading Rainbow’s website.
Reading Rainbow was first launched in 1983 as a response to “summer loss phenomena,” in which “a child loses some of his or her reading abilities because they tend not to read during the summer,” Reading Rainbow’s website explains. Each episode featured a different children’s picture book, often narrated by a celebrity, as well as guest interviews and book reviews.
Over the course of the show’s 26-year run, it became the most-watched PBS program in the classroom, earning awards including the George Foster Peabody Award and 26 Emmys.
A large part of Reading Rainbow’s success was thanks to host LeVar Burton, whose charismatic personality and comforting cadence set the show’s tone. Burton’s successor, Threets, has already cultivated a devoted audience of his own for his love of books and friendly communication style.
Here’s what to know as Threets steps in to take viewers along the Reading Rainbow.
Who is Mychal Threets, a.k.a. Mychal the Librarian?
Threets, known on social media as Mychal the Librarian, has spent the last few years amassing a sizable following (including 829,000 followers on TikTok and 895,000 on Instagram) by sharing his love for reading with the world.
When Threets first started his social media pages several years ago, he was working as a librarian in Solano County, California, at the same library that cultivated his own passion for reading. In 2024, he stepped down from that role and took up a new position as PBS’ resident librarian, a position that allows him to continue producing videos that encourage kids to develop healthy reading habits.
Some of Threet’s most popular videos include heartwarming storytimes about his experiences as a librarian, book reviews, and calls for viewers to invest in their local libraries—all delivered with his signature smile.
“Dear Solano County Library, I just want to say ‘Thank you,’” Threets begins in one TikTok post with over two million views. “Thank you for raising me as a homeschool library kid. This is the place where I’ve always felt safe, I’ve always felt like I belong, I’ve always felt like I have friends.”
Now, Threets is bringing that same sense of safety and belonging to fellow “library kids” through the Reading Rainbow reboot.
“I was raised on Reading Rainbow, LeVar Burton is my hero,” Threets wrote in an Instagram post about the series. “I am a reader, I am a librarian because LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow so powerfully made us believe we belong in books, we belong everywhere. I am so happy for all of us that Reading Rainbow is returning! YOU all did this! We’re flying twice as high, butterflies in the sky!”
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