Comments on the passing of Reading Rainbow

[Current.org moderator]

PBS feeds and broadcast rights end Aug. 28, PBS and WNED announced recently.

Only Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood have had such long lives among PBS children's programs.

Why did it last? Why is it ending? What matters about it? How can its work be continued?

Below, we've posted a response from Charlene Peters of WHYY in Philadelphia.

[Current.org moderator]

As PBS children's series Reading Rainbow exits the PBS satellite feed August 28, and worried content officers wonder about the possibility of alternatives, WHYY tells Current there already is a working model for a contest – the WHYY I Like This Book contest.

"We have developed a model, in partnership with Verizon, which is a new initiative to foster literacy in young readers in our region, and it has drawn more than 2,500 students to the online application," said Jennifer
Wheeler, WHYY educational programs and services manager. "The contest is intended to promote literacy, which is similar to Reading Rainbow, but there are differences. The WHYY I Like This Book contest encompasses a greater number of children, ranging from kindergarten through 12th grade," Wheeler said.

"Another difference is that the child makes the decision about which book to read. I think there is an impact that reaches beyond the numbers here. It touches on the spirit of competition as well as the excitement about reading what the child choses outside of the classroom."

The contest entries exemplify the goals of the Whyy I Like This Book contest. The core purpose of the contest is to explore the motivations behind what interests and what excites a child about a book — the topic, the illustrations, the characters, or a book that is a family favorite. How children choose to read what they read, and what captivates a child about reading that particular book, was part of the criteria for choosing the 21 finalists. Eight students were then recently chosen to star in interstitials now airing on WHYY during their daily children’s programming: i WHYY I Like This Book. High school spots air evenings and weekends. WHYY has recently been approached by other broadcasting companies to develop a contest similar to WHYY I Like This Book.

Thanks very much!
Charlene W. Peters
Senior Publicist, WHYY
150 North Sixth Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
215.351.1231
[e-mail]

Posted for Charlene by Current