Show cover for Reading Rainbow

The Best Episodes of Reading Rainbow

Every episode of Reading Rainbow ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Reading Rainbow!

Journey to exciting places and build a lasting connection with your favorite books. Each episode centers on a theme from a book, or other children's...
Genre:Kids
Network:PBS

Best Episodes Summary

"The Bionic Bunny Show" is the best rated episode of "Reading Rainbow". It scored 9.1/10 based on 21 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 8/15/1988. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain".

  • The Bionic Bunny Show
    9.1/1021 votes
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    #1 - 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 LeVar also stars on) we learn how TV shows are made and how actors in costumes and special effects can make imaginary things seem real.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain
    9.0/1015 votes
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    #2 - Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain

    Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 6/9/1983

    Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Rumplestiltskin
    9.0/107 votes
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    #3 - Rumplestiltskin

    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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
    8.7/1014 votes
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    #4 - If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

    Season 11 Episode 7 - Aired 10/19/1993

    One thing leads to another in this episode, with LeVar in a bowling alley, showing how certain actions lead to consequences. Included is a piece on an expert at domino displays and domino art. Beth Howland reads "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie," the tale of a little boy who offers a cookie to a mouse, and all the events that occur afterwards as a result.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Tight Times
    8.4/1014 votes
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    #5 - Tight Times

    Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 6/6/1983

    A young girl's father loses his job.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Miss Nelson Is Back
    7.8/1011 votes
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    #6 - Miss Nelson Is Back

    Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 6/7/1983

    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."

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Feelings
    7.8/108 votes
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    #7 - Feelings

    Season 4 Episode 3 - Aired 6/25/1986

    Pictures, dialogues, poems, and stories portray a variety of emotions we all feel - jealousy, sadness, fear, anger, joy, love, etc. Also includes Let's Make Music, Feeling Sad, Meet Koko and Penny and book reviews for Honey, I Love and Other Love Poems, Fireflies! and Loudmouth George and the Sixth-Grade Bully.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • My Little Island
    6.6/107 votes
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    #8 - My Little Island

    Season 5 Episode 10 - Aired 7/3/1987

    LeVar spends a day on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. With the featured book as his guide, LeVar drives around the coastline, visits an open market, and gets a glimpse of a mountain frog. Ron Foster narrates the featured book, My Little Island, about a young boy who visits his cousins on the island and how it is much different than his life in the United States.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Bea and Mr. Jones
    NaN/100 votes
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    #9 - 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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Louis the Fish
    NaN/100 votes
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    #10 - Louis the Fish

    Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 6/10/1983

    Louis the Fish

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Digging Up Dinosaurs
    NaN/100 votes
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    #11 - Digging Up Dinosaurs

    Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 6/13/1983

    Technically not the first science-related show in its history, LeVar seeks a place where archaeologists retrieve dinosaur bones. At the end of the program, LeVar buries a time capsule, containing (among other things) a can of old Coke and his picture. Linda Gilman reads Digging Up Dinosaurs, a story about how paleontologists unearth dinosaurs skeletons and preserve them in museum exhibits.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Liang and the Magic Paintbrush
    NaN/100 votes
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    #12 - Liang and the Magic Paintbrush

    Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 6/14/1983

    Liang and the Magic Paintbrush

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Gila Monsters Meet You at the Airport
    NaN/100 votes
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    #13 - Gila Monsters Meet You at the Airport

    Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 6/15/1983

    In the featured book, a young boy and his family move from New York City to the Southwest and he has many misconceptions about what his new home is like.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe
    NaN/100 votes
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    #14 - Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe

    Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 6/16/1983

    Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Gift of the Sacred Dog
    NaN/100 votes
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    #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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Gregory, the Terrible Eater
    NaN/100 votes
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    #16 - Gregory, the Terrible Eater

    Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 6/20/1983

    Today's subject is goats and what they eat.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Three by the Sea
    NaN/100 votes
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    #17 - Three by the Sea

    Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 6/21/1983

    Three by the Sea

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Arthur's Eyes
    NaN/100 votes
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    #18 - Arthur's Eyes

    Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 6/22/1983

    LaVar explores seeing and our other senses, as Bill Cosby tells the story of how the young aardvark, Arthur Read acquired his pair of glasses.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash
    NaN/100 votes
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    #19 - The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash

    Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 6/22/1983

    The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Ty's One Man Band
    NaN/100 votes
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    #20 - Ty's One Man Band

    Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 6/23/1983

    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.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Hot-Air Henry
    NaN/100 votes
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    #21 - Hot-Air Henry

    Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 1/1/1984

    LeVar goes to South Carolina to ride a hot-air balloon. In another study of how air travel has advanced, schoolchildren visit the Space Camp for Aspiring Young Astronauts. William Windom reads the story of Hot-Air Henry, the misadventures of a cat who sneaks on board his family's hot air balloon and how he gets back down again.

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Simon's Book
    NaN/100 votes
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    #22 - Simon's Book

    Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 1/1/1984

    Simon's Book

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Ox-Cart Man
    NaN/100 votes
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    #23 - Ox-Cart Man

    Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 1/1/1984

    Ox-Cart Man

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • Mystery on the Docks
    NaN/100 votes
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    #24 - Mystery on the Docks

    Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 1/1/1984

    Mystery on the Docks

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A

  • A Chair for My Mother
    NaN/100 votes
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    #25 - A Chair for My Mother

    Season 2 Episode 5 - Aired 1/1/1984

    A Chair for My Mother

    Director: N/A

    Writer: N/A