A Reader’s Conundrum: The Introvert vs. The Explorer

Avid readers often are by nature a little bit of a contradiction. You see, avid readers are avid explorers–they love to discover new people and places. But at the same time, most of the avid readers I know are also, in some small part, homebodies: They like to be near their books, their comfy reading chair, someplace where they can close the door and block out everything but their book and let their imagination take flight.

For me, part of growing up as a reader was learning to find the balance between the introverted and the extroverted parts of myself. Going to school each day, or traveling to new places during vacations, was an exercise in excitement and terror: Excitement that I would be around other people, and terror that I might have to speak to one of them. Over the years I found that the best way to deal with the terror was (not surprisingly) by reading!

Reading books about a new place or situation helped the introverted me feel prepared. I now knew what I might expect and how I might deal with it. Likewise, reading helped the extroverted me feel excited and inspired–once I knew what wonders and delights lay ahead of me there was no holding me back!

I believe that the kids of today are even luckier than I was years ago, because they have modern technology on their side. Not only do they have the wonders of Google and the internet to help them learn (and get excited) about new locations and situations, they also have the ability to carry an entire library with them in their backpacks as they travel! With eBooks and the Reading Rainbow App there’s just no stopping the modern young excursionist! Here are just a few of the inspiring books about travel and exploration that kids can find in the Reading Rainbow App:

 

A Porc in New York – Monsieur Monmouton’s farm animals take a trip to New York City for a hilarious vacation!

 

 

 

Roscoe and the Pelican Rescue – A boy and his dog travel to the Louisiana coast for summer vacation… and learn how to rescue oil-covered animals following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

 

 

 

Victor Vicuna’s Volcano Vacation – Victor Vicuna is in for some very exciting adventures during his family’s vacation at Verna Aardvarks Volcano Village.

 

 

What kind of a reader is YOUR child? Does she love exploration and adventure? Is he more of a homebody? What are some of the strategies your family uses to balance out the Reader’s Conundrum? Please join the conversation by leaving a comment below! And as always…

…Happy Reading!

Jenni Buchanan
Reading Rainbow Mom

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Reading Rainbow’s mission is to inspire a love of reading in children and connect them to the world they live in through quality literature so they believe that they, “can go anywhere, be anything.”

Try our FREE iPad app in the App Store, download any of our Classic Reading Rainbow episodes on iTunes or learn more about Reading Rainbow and all our digital products at www.readingrainbow.com.

Going Places! 7 Classic Literary Journeys

Summer is upon us! What is summer if not a time for adventure, exploration, and going places! When I was a kid my parents would often (as many parents do today) use summer vacation as a time to take a road trip, visit family in far-off places, or simply escape to a tent in the woods. I have many fond memories of fun summer travels, but I think some of my best summer memories are of the days and weeks when we didn’t go anywhere, when I was able instead to hide away under a shady tree outside and lose myself in the fictional travels of my favorite literary characters.

Whether your family will be hitting the road this summer, or whether you’re staying close to home, these 7 Classic Literary Journeys will inspire kids of ALL ages to dream of travels to far-away lands.

The Odyssey

This classic story by Homer is the quintessential book about a journey. The tale of Odysseus trying to get home to his wife and son after fighting in the Trojan War, along the way he meets gods, sea-monsters, witches, cyclops, and many other exciting challenges. (Artwork from poseidonfoundation.co.uk)

The Wizard of Oz

A prime example of never knowing how much you love a place until you lose it. When she’s swept away from her home and family by a tornado, Dorothy Gale must work with new friends, and find a hidden magic she never knew she had, to get safely back home. (Illustration by W.W. Denslow)

 

 

Treasure Island

Sometimes it takes something drastic to make us see through our illusions to the truth at the heart of a matter. When Jim Hawkins sets sail with Long John Silver and Company little does he know he’s in for the eye-opening adventure of a lifetime. (Illustration by N.C. Wyeth)

 

 

James and the Giant Peach

With magic beans, a giant peach, true (albeit unusual) friends, and a resourceful and undaunted personality James is able to escape from a miserable life with his selfish aunts, cross over an entire ocean, and start a new life in a new world. (Art courtesy of lareviewofbooks.org)

 

The Incredible Journey

Anyone can embark on an incredible journey, even two pet dogs and a house-cat! This is a story of bravery, determination, and a love that simply won’t give up. (Illustration by Carl Burger)

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Alice’s fall down a rabbit hole takes her on a journey not only of epic, but of ridiculous proportions! If her journey teaches Alice anything it’s that things are never quite what they seem, and that sometimes you have to lose your mind to find your true self. (Illustration by John Tenniel)

 

The Hobbit

“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” (Bilbo in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.) From wistful homebody to reluctant thief to daring adventurer, Bilbo Baggins’ unexpected journey changes his life forever. (Illustration by J.R.R. Tolkien)

 

Which literary journeys have I left out? Which bookish adventures are YOUR favorites? Please leave your thoughts in the comments as we embark on our own summer literary adventure!

Happy Reading!

Jenni Buchanan
Reading Rainbow Mom

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Reading Rainbow’s mission is to inspire a love of reading in children and connect them to the world they live in through quality literature so they believe that they, “can go anywhere, be anything.”

Try our FREE iPad app in the App Store, download any of our Classic Reading Rainbow episodes on iTunes or learn more about Reading Rainbow and all our digital products at www.readingrainbow.com.

Celebrations!

As Reading Rainbow celebrates its 30th Anniversary this week I’ve been thinking a lot about celebrations in general: Birthdays, anniversaries, graduations… all the many ways in which we mark the passage of time and the important occasions in our lives!

Of course the most popular way to celebrate important occasions is with a party–we like to invite all of our favorite people to share special days with us! But there are many other ways in which people might mark a significant day. For example, my father passed away 14 years ago, and every year on the anniversary of his death I like to go on a hike to remember all the hikes he and I used to take together. I have a friend who marks each full moon by lighting a candle, and another friend who sews a quilt every December to represent the year that is coming to an end.

Each family–and each person–will have their own special days and traditions to celebrate. We would love to hear about yours! What are some of the important occasions YOUR family celebrates, and what are some of your favorite ways to mark each occasion?

The Reading Rainbow App has a number of books about occasions and celebrations, and some of the different complications that can crop up as we prepare to celebrate these events!

What Will You Be, Sara Mee? – Sara Mee is turning one and her family and friends gather for her tol, or first-birthday celebration. Food and presents abound, but most exciting of all is the traditional Korean prophecy game called the toljabee, which predicts what Sara Mee will be when she grows up.

 

 

Anansi’s Party Time – When Turtle is tricked on his way to a party thrown by the spider Anansi, he plots to get even with the trickster by throwing a party of his own.

 

 

 

Gertie Gorilla’s Glorious Gift – Gertie Gorilla is going to a birthday party, and she has a grand, great, glorious gift! But when the gift gets grubby in a soggy boggy gulch, what will Gertie do?

 

 

 

As for Reading Rainbow, we want to celebrate our 30th Anniversary by sending out a special THANK YOU to all of the kids, parents and families who have supported us through the years. We offer an extra-special thanks to those Reading Rainbow Kids who grew up watching the show, and are now sharing the magic of reading with their own kids through our iPad and Kindle apps!

Happy Reading!

Jenni Buchanan
Reading Rainbow Mom

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Reading Rainbow’s mission is to inspire a love of reading in children and connect them to the world they live in through quality literature so they believe that they, “can go anywhere, be anything.”

Try our FREE iPad app in the App Store, download any of our Classic Reading Rainbow episodes on iTunes or learn more about Reading Rainbow and all our digital products at www.readingrainbow.com.

What Does It Mean To Be 30?

30 years is enough time for an entire softwood forest can grow; it’s enough time for computers to go from being the size of a small room to fitting in your back pocket; for entire countries disappear from a world map and new ones appear; and enough time for (almost) every cell in your body to replace itself three times or more. For Reading Rainbow, 30 years was enough time to inspire millions of children to love reading, and now, to begin the process of inspiring those children’s children to love reading as well.

Reading Rainbow’s mission has always been to connect children to the world they live in through quality literature so they believe that they, “can go anywhere, be anything.” This is a mission that transcends technology. Kids who loved the Reading Rainbow television show can now, 30 years later, feel proud to share that same love with their children via the technology that speaks to that newest generation–mobile devices and tablet computers.

30 years ago I was seven years old. My favorite food was hot-dogs and macaroni and cheese, my favorite musician was Michael Jackson. I liked to wear overalls and play with Cabbage Patch dolls. And my very favorite thing to do was curl up in a comfy chair and read. 30 years later the only one of those things that remains the same is my love of reading.

It doesn’t matter how much time passes or how technology changes, people will always love a good story and society will always benefit from an inspired and well-educated population. I hope that Reading Rainbow will always be around to introduce kids to the magic of reading, and inspire them to reach for the stars, and “go anywhere, be anything.”

Here’s to another 30 years!

Happy Reading!

Jenni Buchanan
Reading Rainbow Mom

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Reading Rainbow’s mission is to inspire a love of reading in children and connect them to the world they live in through quality literature so they believe that they, “can go anywhere, be anything.”

Try our FREE iPad app in the App Store, download any of our Classic Reading Rainbow episodes on iTunes or learn more about Reading Rainbow and all our digital products at www.readingrainbow.com.

You’re Invited: Reading Rainbow’s 30th Anniversary Party!

 

Reading Rainbow’s 30th Anniversary!

By LeVar Burton

I grew up in the 6o’s, a very turbulent era for America which included the Vietnam War the assassinations of the Kennedys and Dr. King, as well as the Movement for Civil Rights, with protests and riots all being broadcast nightly by the networks. It was during this period of my life that my relationship with books was forged forever. In a world that seemed at best volatile and at its worst dangerous, even fatal, books and the characters in them were always a reliable source of comfort. I could count on them. They were there no matter how scary or unsettling the world seemed.

30 years ago this week, June 6th, 1983, the very first episode of Reading Rainbow hit the PBS airwaves. I don’t believe there was anyone present on the set the day we shot the first episode, who thought that 30 years later the brand would emerge a touchstone to whole generation of adults who grew up on the show and for whom “taking a look” ‘cuz “it’s in a book”, and “not taking my word for it”, are practically cultural imperatives. Virtually every day of my life, someone approaches me and tells me about the powerful influence the show had on them as a child and as they walk away, I think to myself, “That was a grown up! How is it possible that 30 years have gone by???”  The real truth is that I am enormously proud of whatever positive social impact the show has had over the years and I am quite certain that my own life has been immeasurably enriched along the way.

Over the years, the mission for us at Reading Rainbow has remained consistently intact; turn a child who knows how to read into a reader for life. Our way of doing this was by tying the real world into the literature we were presenting on the show. The featured book would always have video field trips that reinforced the themes or messages on the book. Through television we brought the world into your living room.  The featured book on that very first episode was Tight Times, by Barbara Shook Hazen. A story about a boy whose father loses his job and how his family experiences the pressures of an economic downturn. Our first music video in that episode, “Check It Out”, highlighted how going to the library was a way to entertain yourself without spending a dollar.   I believe the message of Reading Rainbow; that with your imagination and a good book, you can “go anywhere” and “be anything”, is as important a value to instill in children today as it was 30 years ago, perhaps even more so.

These days, I am often asked my opinion of this emerging technological world and its impact on the children of today and their reading habits, and invariably I offer what I am about to share with you now: I don’t care if it’s in a bound book or on a tablet computer, I simply want kids to read! And if 30 years from now, the RR brand is still at work inspiring young minds, then I’m good with it. After all, it’s important to have something we can count on, because the world can still at times be an unsettling and even scary place to live.

But you don’t have to take my word for it…

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Reading Rainbow’s mission is to inspire a love of reading in children and connect them to the world they live in through quality literature so they believe that they, “can go anywhere, be anything.”

Try our FREE iPad app in the App Store, download any of our Classic Reading Rainbow episodes on iTunes or learn more about Reading Rainbow and all our digital products at www.readingrainbow.com.

The Best Friends That Never Were: 3 Unlikely Literary Pairings

Yesterday I wrote a blog post about 10 Best Friends in Literature, listing some of the best examples of friendships to be found in books. But this got me thinking… What about all the other wonderful literary characters out there who weren’t lucky enough to have a best friend written into their story?

Everyone deserves a best friend. Below you’ll find some pairings of literary characters I think would hit it off splendidly as best friends!

1. Madeline and Eloise. The girl who is not afraid of mice, who loves winter, cold and ice, and who runs away to join the circus would be a perfect companion for the turtle-owning, troublemaking resident of NYC’s Plaza Hotel. Imagine the chaos these two could create together! (Poor Miss Clavel and Nanny!)

2. Corduroy and Paddington. While these two bears aren’t exactly alike, I think they are alike enough to enjoy each other’s company immensely. Both love to roam the city and meet new people, both have a knack for getting into good-natured trouble… and both always manage to make their way home to loving families.

3. Young Tarzan and Mowgli. Together, these two feral children would rule the jungle! (And they would certainly capture the hearts of unsuspecting female explorers everywhere.) While both loved the ways and animal friends of the jungle, I think they would have benefited from having a human friend to talk to.

What do you think? Do you agree with these pairings? Which fictional characters do YOU think would be best friends? (If only they could meet each other outside the pages of their own books, of course.)

Stories of friendship–whether they’re our own or the ones we find in literature–are not only fun, but important and educational. They show us different ways to make and be friends. They teach us that we’re not alone, and that there’s always a kindred spirit waiting to be found just around the corner. Our Reading Rainbow App has a number of wonderful stories about friendship that will captivate kids, including the ones you see below:

Young Henry and the Dragon – A story of how friendships can be made in the most unexpected of places. Lost in the woods,  young Henry can’t get his campfire started. His toes are cold, and he can’t even make a cup of tea… Until he tries to trick a very disagreeable dragon into snorting out a flame by making the dragon laugh.

 

Emma’s Friendwich – Emma has just moved to a new city where she doesn’t know anyone. When she sees a girl next door she wonders what she can do to get to know her. What if she smiles, asks to play, and shares her toys?

 

 

Don’t Say Ain’t – It’s 1957 in Harlem and Dana has passed a placement test to enter an integrated school, but everywhere she turns she feels left out. Can Dana take advantage of this opportunity and still keep her friends?

 

 

 
Happy Reading!

Jenni Buchanan
Reading Rainbow Mom

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Reading Rainbow’s mission is to inspire a love of reading in children and connect them to the world they live in through quality literature so they believe that they, “can go anywhere, be anything.”

Try our FREE iPad app in the App Store, download any of our Classic Reading Rainbow episodes on iTunes or learn more about Reading Rainbow and all our digital products at www.readingrainbow.com.

10 Best Friends in Literature

Any avid reader knows that books are full of Best Friends. Some people find their best friends THROUGH a mutual love of books, some people find that their best friends ARE books, and sometimes people who feel they are alone in the world are inspired to open their hearts to friendship through a friendship they read about IN books.

This week our theme is BEST FRIENDS, and in honor of that theme we’d like to highlight a few of the best friendships we’ve seen in literature:

1. Calvin and Hobbes

These two beloved characters from Bill Watterson’s Calvin & Hobbes comics are the ultimate best friends. Opposites in many ways, they nevertheless are always there for each other, to share in the good times, save each other from trouble, and to make the scary times a little less scary. And to those who say that Hobbes is imaginary, only animate when Calvin is there to believe in him, my response would be: Isn’t it true that most of us only feel truly alive when our best friend is there to believe in us?

2. Frodo and Sam

Without these two brave and selfless souls from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings we would have lost Middle-Earth to Sauron long ago. Frodo and Sam show us the meaning of sacrifice in friendship. Being a best friend isn’t always about fun and laughter, sometimes being a best friend means being there for the other through the darkest of times. And sometimes the fate of the world can hang in the balance.

3. Peter Pan and Tinkerbell

J.M. Barrie’s Peter and Tinkerbell are volatile best friends. They fight, they scoff at each other, they make each other angry and jealous… but when it comes right down to it, they would each die for the other. Our best friends aren’t always perfect, and sometimes they drive us crazy, but it’s those very characteristics that make us crazy that also often make us love them so much.

4. Dorothy and Toto

Dorothy and Toto from L. Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz show us that sometimes dogs (or cats, or birds, or horses, etc.) ARE a man’s (or in this case a girl’s) best friend. At those times in our lives when our human companions let us down, it’s often our animal friends to whom we turn for comfort and solace.

5. Pooh and Piglet

A.A. Milne knew what he was doing when he introduced Winnie the Pooh and Piglet to each other. For every blustery, outgoing, no-inhibitions extrovert there is often a shy, thoughtful, lovingly introverted best buddy to balance them out.

6. Charlotte and Wilbur

Who can read E.B.White’s Charlotte’s Web without coming away feeling that the book taught them the true meaning of friendship? Charlotte works to save Wilbur’s life for no reason whatsoever except love and friendship. Wilbur loves Charlotte’s intelligence and kindness, and Charlotte loves Wilbur’s innocence and enthusiasm.  A solid foundation for any true friendship.

7. Sherlock Holmes and John Watson

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes and Watson are such a perfectly balanced pair that one could hardly exist without the other! The yin of one balances the yang of the other in such a way as to create a perfect whole.

8. Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn

These two brain-children of Mark Twain are an unlikely pairing, and perhaps don’t meet the traditional definition of “best friends”, but I’m including them anyway because when it comes down to it, there are no guidelines for best-friendship. Sometimes in our lives we meet a person who is there for one specific time and purpose, and without that one person the whole course of our lives would have gone in a completely different direction. Tom and Huck are this for each other.

9. Rat and Mole

The main characters of Kenneth Grahame’s Wind in the Willows have the kind of friendship most people envision when they think of “best friends”. Going off on adventures, teaching each other to see the world in new ways, serving as the foundational friendship of a larger group of friends– Rat and Mole exemplify the simple, easy friendship of two people who simply love to be in each other’s company.

10. Harry, Ron and Hermione

Best friends doesn’t always mean a pair. Sometimes the perfect best friendship is the melding of three distinct personalities, such as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger; and nothing proves this better than how they each use their very different talents to get into the Chamber of Secrets in book two of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Harry, Ron and Hermione have fun together, get in trouble together, fight, laugh, cry, keep secrets together, support each other… and eventually save the world together.

Which of these literary friendships best describes the relationship YOU have with YOUR best friend? And are there any others I’ve left off? Please leave a comment and let us know your thoughts!

Happy Reading!

Jenni Buchanan
Reading Rainbow Mom

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Reading Rainbow’s mission is to inspire a love of reading in children and connect them to the world they live in through quality literature so they believe that they, “can go anywhere, be anything.”

Try our FREE iPad app in the App Store, download any of our Classic Reading Rainbow episodes on iTunes or learn more about Reading Rainbow and all our digital products at www.readingrainbow.com.

Bestselling Author Michelle Moran on How Reading Rainbow Inspired Her to Write!

Guest Post by Michelle Moran, bestselling author and a Reading Rainbow Kid!

Whenever I go on a book tour, one of the most frequent questions I’m asked is how I was inspired to become a writer of historical fiction. It’s funny, because most people use words like “decide” and “choose,” when talking about other professions. As in, “How did you decide to become a doctor?” Or “When did you choose to become a teacher?” But the fact that people so often use the word “inspire” when talking about writing seems appropriate, because I think for many writers, there is definitely a moment of inspiration. For me, it began with an episode of Reading Rainbow.

I was eight years old when the program featured a children’s book called Digging Up Dinosaurs. On the screen, LeVar Burton enthusiastically explained what excited him about dinosaurs. Then he traveled to Utah’s Dinosaur National Monument to interview a paleontologist there. The two of them stood over a gigantic femur while the paleontologist tenderly cleaned off the dirt with his brush. “That’s what I want to do!” I announced, and when my mother signed me up for a children’s course in paleontology at the Natural History Museum, I knew I wanted to join a dig someday.

Twelve years later, I found myself sitting in a class called Archeometrics, and when the professor mentioned that she was looking for volunteers who would like to join a dig in Israel, I practically trampled the other students in my haste. Visions of artifacts danced in my head. After all, it was Israel, and who knew what we might find? For the three weeks before the orientation meeting, I agonized over what I should bring. Were there special brushes that archaeologists used, or would the ones from Home Depot be okay? I finally settled on brushes from Home Depot, and when it came time for packing, I lovingly placed them in protective wrap and imagined all the priceless artifacts they’d soon be dusting.

When I landed in Israel, I unpacked my brushes and laced up my boots. As we arrived at the dig site, our team leader walked to the back of his van. I watched excitedly as he unloaded twenty pickaxes. When he began passing them out to the volunteers, however, I became concerned. They’ve mistaken me for someone else, I panicked, someone who’s signed up to dig ditches instead of brushing delicate femurs. “What is this?” I asked when it was my turn for a pickax. “One of your tools,” our team leader replied. “There’s a shovel as well. You’ll be digging six feet by ten.” When he saw the shock on my face, he frowned. “You knew that, didn’t you?”

For weeks we dug ditches, shoveling dirt into wheelbarrows and hauling the barrels of dirt down a hill. And over that summer, I never did get to use my brushes. Only seasoned archaeologists were allowed to do the delicate work. But when our team discovered an Egyptian scarab that proved the ancient Israelites had once traded with Egyptians, I began to wonder who had owned that scarab, and what had possessed them to undertake the long journey north from their homeland to the fledgling country of Israel.

On my flight back to America I stopped in Berlin, and with a newfound appreciation for Egyptology, I visited the museum where Nefertiti’s limestone bust was being housed. The graceful curve of Nefertiti’s neck and the faintest hint of a smile were captivating. Who was this woman? I wanted to know more about Nefertiti’s story, and since I had been writing from the time I was very young, I suddenly knew what my next subject would be. And thus began my career as an historical novelist.

Today, as I work on my sixth book about a queen in India who fought, like Joan of Arc, to save her kingdom from British colonization, I often think about that first moment of inspiration, when my mother put on the television and Reading Rainbow’s Digging For Dinosaurs was playing. At the end of the show, LeVar Burton buries a time capsule containing his photo and a set of house keys, and I’ve often wondered how and when that capsule will be unearthed some day. When it is, perhaps a historical fiction writer will be there, eager to write about the life and times of the man who buried it. After all, it would only be appropriate, given how Reading Rainbow inspired at least one historical writer to dig into the past, not with a pickaxe, but with a pen.

Michelle Moran’s experiences at archaeological sites around the world motivated her to write historical fiction and continue to provide inspiration for her novels. She is the international bestselling author of Nefertiti, The Heretic Queen, Cleopatra’s Daughter, Madame Tussaud, and The Second Empress. Her novels have been translated into more than twenty languages. Visit her online at michellemoran.com.

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Reading Rainbow thanks Michelle Moran for contributing this week’s guest blog post, and for her beautiful stories, but especially for her wonderful enthusiasm which demonstrates to kids and adults alike that a love of reading truly can allow you to “go anywhere, be anything.”

Try our FREE iPad app in the App Store, download any of our Classic Reading Rainbow episodes on iTunes or learn more about Reading Rainbow and all our digital products at www.readingrainbow.com.

Space Stories That Will Inspire Kids To Great Heights!

“To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit.” -Stephen Hawking

The best stories (whether we’re kids or grownups) are the ones that take us out of our familiar world and into the great and adventurous unknown! Of course there are many ways to do this through storytelling, but one of the most fun (and often most educational) ways is through STORIES ABOUT SPACE! There’s something about outer-space that ignites our imaginations. Quite often, these stories about space travel, or life on distant planets change us in ways we may never have expected.

Some authors, like Madeleine L’Engle with A Wrinkle In Time, tell their stories in such exciting ways that we never realize we’re learning about math and physics even as their books make our hair stand on end. Other writers, such as Tom Wolfe with his The Right Stuff, and Homer Hickam Jr. with his Rocket Boys, use the challenge and wonder of space travel to inspire us to set our own personal goals higher than we may otherwise have done. And some authors, such as Ted Hughes with The Iron Man (later made into “The Iron Giant” animated movie) tell stories about aliens who make us see ourselves with fresh eyes, and whose struggles capture our hearts and make us more compassionate people in “real” life.

Many of the classic Science-Fiction Space stories we all know and love are aimed at an older audience, but you don’t have to wait until your child is a teen or young adult to expose him or her to the beauty and wonder of celestial travel and stories! In fact, we have a quite a few great books about space right here in our Reading Rainbow App, including:

 Cosmo’s Moon – Cosmo loves the moon and the moon loves Cosmo. In this book they both come to realize the power of friendship, and the power of the moon! Lots of things depend on the moon–the ocean tides, morning glories, and the dogs who can’t stop howling. Cosmo’s Moon will charm anyone who’s ever been bewitched by the beauty of the moon.

 

 

 The Boy and the Moon – It’s midnight, a special time of night when anything can happen. A young boy slips outside his house to join some special friends in a nighttime jubilation. They joyously celebrate the mystery and magic of the night, basking in the glow of the moonlight… until the moon does something unexpected!

 

 

 Galileo’s Leaning Tower Experiment – When the scientist Galileo befriends a bright farm boy the two begin to investigate the science of motion. This lively reimagining of Galileo’s Leaning Tower experiment shows that anyone can be a scientist–all it takes is curiosity, determination, and a little imagination.

 

What are some of YOUR favorite stories about space? Which ones inspired you as a kid, or inspire you now? Join the conversation by sharing your favorites in the comments!

Happy Reading!

Jenni Buchanan
Reading Rainbow Mom

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Reading Rainbow’s mission is to inspire a love of reading in children and connect them to the world they live in through quality literature so they believe that they, “can go anywhere, be anything.”

Try our FREE iPad app in the App Store, download any of our Classic Reading Rainbow episodes on iTunes or learn more about Reading Rainbow and all our digital products at www.readingrainbow.com.