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'Reading Rainbow' host LeVar Burton will publish a children's book

Burton's book 'The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm' will reportedly be released this October.

'The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm' is by LeVar Burton and Susan Schaefer Bernardo.
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

Actor LeVar Burton will reportedly publish a children’s book. 

Burton, who in addition to starring in such TV shows as “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Roots” was the longtime host of the PBS educational program “Reading Rainbow,” will publish a book titled “The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm” with author Susan Schaefer Bernardo and with illustrations done by Courtenay Fletcher, according to the Los Angeles Times. The book will be released on Oct. 7.

According to IPG (Independent Publishers Group, which includes the publisher Reading Rainbow), “LeVar Burton gives us an engaging resource to help children express their feelings and navigate through difficult experiences” through the story of a rhinoceros who must recover emotionally after a storm destroys everything he cares about.

The Reading Rainbow Kickstarter created by Burton earlier this summer, which aimed to make “Reading Rainbow” resources available at no charge to children in need and put “RR” resources on various media like the Web and mobile devices, raised more than $5 million. Seth MacFarlane of “Family Guy” matched donations for up to $1 million for a period of time between June 27 and July 2.

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