The BEST episodes written by Ellen Schecter
#1 - Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe
Reading Rainbow - Season 1 - Episode 9
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.
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#2 - Ty's One-Man Band
Reading Rainbow - Season 1 - Episode 15
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.
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#3 - A Chair for My Mother
Reading Rainbow - Season 2 - Episode 5
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.
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#4 - Bea and Mr. Jones
Reading Rainbow - Season 1 - Episode 3
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.
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#5 - Gila Monsters Meet You at the Airport
Reading Rainbow - Season 1 - Episode 8
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.
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#6 - Three by the Sea
Reading Rainbow - Season 1 - Episode 12
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.
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#7 - Space Case
Reading Rainbow - Season 4 - Episode 6
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.
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#8 - Liang and the Magic Paintbrush
Reading Rainbow - Season 1 - Episode 7
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.
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#9 - Miss Nelson is Back
Reading Rainbow - Season 1 - Episode 2
As part of his birthday celebration, LeVar gets made-up like a movie monster, and then gets involved in Harry Blackstone's magic act. Ruth Buzzi reads Miss Nelson Is Back, all about a group of rowdy students who try to take advantage of their teacher's absence when she's out sick one day, and how she gets revenge on them by pretending to be "the meanest teacher in the world, Viola Swamp."
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#10 - For Lunch
The Magic School Bus - Season 1 - Episode 2
Arnold's so excited he doesn't have to go on a field trip! But when he accidentally swallows his miniaturised class, he becomes the field trip!
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#11 - Tight Times
Reading Rainbow - Season 1 - Episode 1
What can you do with very little money? That's what the featured book and LeVar must face. To set the tone for the entire series, LeVar shows a friend a wealth of fun at the local library. Patrick McCaffrey reads Tight Times, a story about how a little boy talks his parents into letting him adopt a stray cat even though they have to make budget cuts after the father is laid off from his job.
Watch Now:Amazon#12 - Arthur's Eyes
Reading Rainbow - Season 1 - Episode 13
How do you see things? Different people see things in different ways. And the best way to see things is through caring and understanding.
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#13 - Ox-Cart Man
Reading Rainbow - Season 2 - Episode 3
LeVar visits Sturbridge Village in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to experience reenactments of life in Colonial America.
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#14 - Hot-Air Henry
Reading Rainbow - Season 2 - Episode 1
LeVar goes to South Carolina to ride a hot-air balloon. In a totally unrelated scene (not mentioned in GPN's Reading Rainbow media guide), schoolchildren visit the Space Camp for Aspiring Young Astronauts.
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#15 - Simon's Book
Reading Rainbow - Season 2 - Episode 2
In the feature book, a doodle goes on the loose and it's up to Simon to tame it. The reality is, books take many people and special machinery to make. Such is explained in the song In The Bindary.
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#16 - Mystery on the Docks
Reading Rainbow - Season 2 - Episode 4
As LeVar explores the docks, Raul Julia narrates the story of Ralph, a short order cook who foils a kidnapping plot to hold Eduardo, a famous opera singer, hostage.
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#17 - The Tortoise and the Hare
Reading Rainbow - Season 3 - Episode 4
LeVar has entered a bicycle race. He's in competition not just with the other bikers, but with himself as well. This program also includes a lengthy piece on a karate class. Comedienne Gilda Radner reads the Aesop's tale of "The Tortoise and the Hare," about an arrogant rabbit that's over confident that he can beat a determined turtle in a foot race.
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