Reading Rainbow
Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe
TV Flash files “Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe” as hour 9 of 155 in the TV Flash guide — Reading Rainbow (1983–2006) on PBS, season 1, episode 9, aired 1983-06-16, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E09: listed hour 9 of 155 in the Reading Rainbow guide, hour 9 of 15 in season 1. It aired 1983-06-16 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Gila Monsters Meet You at the Airport” (S01E08). Next is “The Gift of the Sacred Dog” (S01E10).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
LeVar encounters fun and excitement as he goes camping with a group of young friends, and then shares his experiences of an African vacation where he rode a raft down the white water of the dangerous and uncharted Zabezi River.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe sit in the Reading Rainbow guide?
S01E09 is listed hour 9 of 155 — hour 9 of 15 in season 1, season 1 episode 9.
When did Reading Rainbow S01E09 air?
Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe aired 1983-06-16 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Is it only for kids?
PBS literacy as after-school adventure. Adults return for Burton and the catchphrase. The Kickstarter revival proved nobody actually outgrew the librarian on camera.
In the series
Why this series still plays
LeVar Burton takes you into a book, then kids review it, then the catchphrase: you don't have to take his word for it. PBS literacy as after-school adventure, with field-trip segments that treated reading as a passport. A generation's librarian on camera — the Kickstarter revival proved nobody actually outgrew him.
The catchphrase is the contract. PBS, premiere 1983 through 2006: LeVar Burton introduces books, field trips, and kid reviews that sell the joy of reading — you don't have to take his word for it. Reading Rainbow, from Twila Liggett, Cecily Truett Lancit, and Larry Lancit, made literacy appointment television. After-school adventure treated reading as a passport: theme song as permanent childhood earworm, multiple Daytime Emmys, Burton as a generation's librarian on camera. If you came for a blotter item about a…
Filed against
- LeVar Burton as Host
LeVar Burton’s breakthrough as young Kunta Kinte on Roots made miniseries history — eight ABC nights, event television that forced a nation to watch and talk together. Later Star Trek: TNG and Reading Rainbow sealed educator-icon status.…