Reading Rainbow

LeVar launches into the television production process during the filming of Star Trek: The Next Generation, on which he played a major role.

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.

The best of friends are those whose friendships endure everything. And it extends to all walks of life, particularly to dogs. Liza Siegler reads the story of two girls who are best friends, but their relationship is strained when one girl goes on a vacation with relatives and the other girl feels lonely and neglected, until a new neighbor moves in and asks her to help him look after his dog.

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.

A totally unreal hat store called "Hats... to Where?" sells hats that transport customers to all parts of the world. LeVar whisks himself to the horse racetrack at Turf Paradise, to a model train display in Three Bridges, New Jersey, and to the Nassau Coliseum, where he gets a goal tending lesson from Kelly Hurdey of the New York Islanders.

In a small boat on the Chesapeake Bay, LeVar is on the lookout for ducks who are spending the winter. During the trip, he gets a chance to see a duck up close and show how a couple turns a block of wood into a duck. Orson Bean reads The Runaway Duck, a story of a toy duck named Egbert who gets tied to a car by accident and how he then travels all over the world when the car drives off.

LeVar provides insight on Japanese culture. Keye Luke reads the story of a kind restaurant owner who is thanked by a customer with a magical crane made from a napkin, whose dancing spectacle soon brings in the guests to make the failing business prosperous again.

LeVar wants to find the answer to the old question, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" Posing as field reporter for E.G.G.-TV , he uncovers other discoveries instead, such as loggerhead sea turtles emerging onto the sand to lay eggs. Georgia Engel narrates Chickens Aren't the Only Ones, a book told in rhyme showing all kinds of animals who lay eggs like chickens.

Sada Thompson reads the story of Abbie, the eldest daughter of a family that tends a lighthouse, and how she had to keep the lamps working during a storm while her father was in the city getting supplies. LeVar visits a family that runs their own sailboat tourism business and actually live on their small craft.

LeVar visits a beehive to look into beekeeping and how honey is made. Barbara Feldon narrates The Life Cycle of the Honeybee, which goes into detail about how bees make hives in natural habitats such as trees.

In one of the rare times Reading Rainbow uses a studio set, LeVar tells about storytelling through music. Pete Seeger appears on the set to perform his version of Abiyoyo. Pete explains that he adapted an old African folk tale, about a boy who helps get rid of a giant terrorizing his town, when Seeger's children pestered him to come up with a unique bedtime story that included music.

LeVar goes on a search for microorganisms, distinguishing the good ones from the bad. An animated satire of Hill Street Blues (which ran 1981-1987) shows white blood cells ready to fight germs. Molly Mandlin reads Germs Make Me Sick!, explaining how people can catch colds and diseases from exposure to germs.

LeVar decides to take a closer look at human's fascination with how animals are different from people by visiting the Philadelphia Zoo. Imogene Coca reads the whimsical story of Imogene's Antlers, a funny story about a girl who wakes up one morning to find deer antlers have grown on her head overnight.

LeVar spends a day at the dairy seeing how cows are milked and understanding what care cows need. Alaina Reed Hall reads the story of The Milk Makers, detailing how milk is collected from cows, processed in dairies and sent to grocery stores.

LeVar opens the show at a planetarium with an introduction to Earth for any creature in outer space who might be watching. Michael Winslow tells the story of Space Case, about a small space alien who visits Earth during Halloween and is mistaken by the children as just another kid in a costume.

Videotaped at Ellis Island in 1985, this show is truly American or, more correctly, a salute to all those who immigrated to America. Laura Haymann reads Watch the Stars Come Out, a true story about a young boy and girl who ride a boat from their native country to New York in order to join their parents and older sister, who emigrated to the United States earlier and sent for them.

LeVar seems to have a lot of things going wrong for him as he spends a day in the park, causing lots of different emotions. In an animated feature, a group of school children read poems about feelings and how to deal with situations.

LeVar checks out the Library of Congress. Among the activities shown: how a book is delivered to the front desk, the vast film library, and how damaged books are repaired. Arnold Stang reads Alistair in Outer Space, a story about a young boy that is so dedicated to returning library books on time that he doesn't even let getting abducted by space aliens stop him.

LeVar visits Hawaii to get a closer look at active volcanoes. He studies lava and the way the earth changes after an eruption. Fernando Escandon reads Hill of Fire, a true story of how a volcano suddenly started to build up in a farmer's field in Mexico, and how the city then had to evacuate.

LeVar visits the Boston Children's Museum to participate with other children to design a patchwork quilt with everyone having their own individual square. Isabel Sanford reads The Patchwork Quilt, a story about a young girl who learns how to make a special quilt from her grandmother, and how she and her mother spend the next year collaborating on the quilt after grandmother falls ill.