The BEST episodes of Reading Rainbow

#1 - The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash

Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 6/23/1983

LeVar visits a pet store to discuss the featured book, and imagines that one of the pets from the store followed him home. It's a field day for the farm animals, and not a place for the faint of heart (or so the featured book would have it). The show also attends a state fair to investigate livestock competitions. Kaleena Kiff and Laura Hicks read the featured story of a little girl telling her mother about a school fieldtrip to a farm, and the chaos that ensued when her classmate brought along his pet snake to introduce it to the farm animals.

#2 - Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe

Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 6/16/1983

LeVar takes a camping trip with some young friends. They make a photo album of their trip and some other kids share their photo albums they made to show what they did over the summer. Carolyn McMahon narrates Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe, a story about a girl and her cousin who go on a camping trip with their mothers and ride in a canoe on the river.

#3 - The Secret Shortcut

Season 18 - Episode 4 - Aired 2/16/2001

In the first of two map shows, LeVar Burton wants to show how to use maps. But he is not Rick Steves. Tim Conway reads a story about two boys who decide to try a new route to school after getting there late all the time and being reprimanded by the teacher.

#4 - Show Way

Season 21 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/10/2006

As LeVar helps his wife and daughter construct his family tree, Diahann Carroll narrates Show Way, in which the author chronicles her family back to her Great, Great, Great, Great Grandmother, who was a slave in the South. Through traditions passed down to each generation, her family learned to sew "Show Way" quilts that were secretly maps designed to help slaves escape to the north to freedom, and how her relatives taught her to keep up with the love of quilting to retain family history.

#5 - The Biggest Test in the Universe

Season 21 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/6/2006

In addition to discussing accomplishing difficult tasks, LeVar profiles the New York children's theater group Tada, as they prepare auditions for their newest show. Richard Gear reads The Biggest Test in the Universe, a story about a grade school class having anxiety over an annual aptitude test.

#6 - The Wall

Season 10 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/6/1992

LeVar visits the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC, and discusses its historical significance to helping people learn about the service men and woman who died in the war. Artist Mia Lin, who designed the black granite wall, is profiled as she describes the reasons she chose the materials and design style for the monument. Jason Ruggiero reads the featured story of a boy who accompanies his father to the monument to search for his paternal grandfather's name on the wall, and his observations of other visitors.

#7 - Rumpelstiltskin

Season 5 - Episode 7 - Aired 6/30/1987

This looks like an extension of the previous episode, but it is a separate venture. LeVar appears in proper attire for an English Renaissance festival. Ralph Waite reads the fairy tale of Rumpelstiltskin, about a poor miller's daughter who is stuck between a greedy king and a conniving elf to get out of a difficult situation.

#8 - Animal Cafe

Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 6/23/1986

Finding that the food on his shop shelves had vanished overnight and his cash register was stuffed full of money makes Maxwell wonder what really happens during the middle of the night. Also contains The City at Night, Bats, Through the Night and book reviews of The Moon, The Dream Eater and Night Markets: Bringing Food to a City.

#9 - The Patchwork Quilt

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 7/2/1985

LeVar visits the Boston Children's Museum to participate with other children to design a patchwork quilt with everyone having their own individual square. Isabel Sanford reads The Patchwork Quilt, a story about a young girl who learns how to make a special quilt from her grandmother, and how she and her mother spend the next year collaborating on the quilt after grandmother falls ill.

#10 - Paul Bunyan

Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 7/1/1985

This book recounts the life of the extraordinary lumberjack whose unusual size and strength brought him many fantastic adventures. Also includes What Would You Do, Forest Firefighters, At the Library, Logging Olympics and book reviews for The Star-Spangled Banner, The Legend of the Bluebonnet and Whale in the Sky.

#11 - A Chair for My Mother

Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 9/7/1984

LeVar and eight other actors are rehearsing for a musical number called "Teamwork." Amy Linker ("Square Pegs") reads A Chair for My Mother, about a family that has to save up money to replace furniture lost when their apartment burns down in a fire. It also tells about how the rest of the neighborhood pulled together to help them during their loss.

#12 - Ty's One-Man Band

Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 6/24/1983

LeVar is ready to find music everywhere, and he does. This show includes the animation Onomatopoeia. Lou Rawls reads the story of Ty's One-Man Band, about a man who teaches a boy how to make music using household items.

#13 - Gregory, the Terrible Eater

Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 6/20/1983

Oh, there's something wrong here. Goats don't just eat everything, despite LeVar's visit to a suspect diner. And then there's that obligatory something completely different: a professional chef letting kids chip in on a meal fit for humans.

#14 - Bea and Mr. Jones

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 6/8/1983

LeVar is already worn out after working on several scenes all day long on the production of the series. He feels he needs to take on another identity, segueing into introducing the featured book, Bea and Mr. Jones. Madeline Kahn reads the book about a kindergarten student and her father who get so bored with their jobs that they decide to experiment by switching places for the day.

#15 - The Gift of the Sacred Dog

Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 6/17/1983

The first of many programs favoring Native Americans. In this instance, a Midwestern legend suggests how horses arrived to the tribe. Later in this episode is the song "Ancient Places, Sacred Lands" which lists several words originating from various locations of the United States and the tribal meaning of their names.

#16 - Three by the Sea

Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 6/21/1983

LeVar spends a day at the beach, where he notices that everyone is reading the book of the day, Three by the Sea. Improvisation Comedy Troupe members of Chicago City Limits read the story of three children who challenge each other to come up with different stories using the same topic material. Later on, the improvising actors work with a group of children to teach them improv acting.

#17 - Two Old Potatoes and Me

Season 20 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/21/2005

Jordan Puryear reads "Two Old Potatoes and Me," about a girl who works with her father to recycle two rotted potatoes by replanting them using the sprouts to grow a whole new crop of potatoes. LeVar, working with his daughter, is inspired to make potato dishes from recipes in the book.

#18 - Boxes for Katje

Season 21 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/8/2006

LeVar profiles Children For Children, a New York based youth organization that creates care packages for relief to children affected by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Elizabeth Jute reads a story about a US penpal who sends care packages to her friend in war-torn Holland after WWII.

#19 - The Piggy in the Puddle

Season 10 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/13/1992

This episode of READING RAINBOW, "Piggy in the Puddle," features a look at the art of claymation and the joys of mud. Claymation artists Becky and Cody introduce host LeVar Burton to the art of claymation and create a claymation interpretation of Charlotte Pomerantz's PIGGIE IN THE PUDDLE. This program also features kids creating their own clay figures and a trip to a mud racing show. Kids review THIS HOUSE IS MADE OF MUD, THE HIPPOPOTAMUS SONG, and OINK.

#20 - Space Case

Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 6/30/1986

Is there life on other planets and stars? LaVar sends a message to aliens who might be watching and a radio telescope in Puerto Rico is profiled. Today's featured story is about a being from outer space who visits Earth.

#21 - Gila Monsters Meet You at the Airport

Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 6/15/1983

LeVar is out to disspell misconceptions of unknown things. When the boy in the feature book is convinced he'll find gila monsters when he arrives at an airport out in the West, this raises the question: What is a gila monster? A nature visit to the West shows us a gila monster up close. Later in the program, LeVar discusses with children the new experiences they have had to face.

#22 - Louis the Fish

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 6/10/1983

Starting at the New England Aquarium, LeVar gets into a lengthy observation of aquatic life. Vincent Gardenia reads the story of Louis the Fish, a fanciful tale of a man, forced to take over his family's butcher business but secretly longing to take care of fish instead, wakes up one morning to find he magically turned into a giant salmon.

#23 - Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 6/9/1983

#24 - Liang and the Magic Paintbrush

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 6/14/1983

LeVar goes to Chinatown for a look at Chinese culture. In something completely different, a New York technology institute draws a traditional Chinese dragon boat.

#25 - The Bionic Bunny Show

Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 8/15/1988

In both the featured story and on the set of the show "Star Trek: the Next Generation" (which LaVar also stars on) we learn how TV shows are made and how actors in costumes and special effects can make imaginary things seem real.