“Butterfly in the sky! I can fly twice as high!” These words are indelibly etched in the memories of those who grew up watching PBS’ venerable children’s program Reading Rainbow. The successful May 2014 Kickstarter campaign to revive the show as an app suggests that the literacy-encouraging series still holds a fond place in the hearts of its now-grown viewers. These fans will likely delight at the prospect of hearing that show’s gentle, reassuring host, LeVar Burton, reading the prolifically-profane 2011 “children’s book for adults” Go The Fuck To Sleep by Adam Mansbach. This special performance was done in the name of charity, specifically the Children’s Miracle Network, as part of a live-streaming event which raised over $240K. Other celebrities, including Samuel L. Jackson and Werner Herzog, have already performed readings of the book to Internet acclaim. But Burton brings something special to this performance: a sense of heartfelt vulnerability. It is not difficult to imagine the erstwhile Geordi La Forge as an exasperated but essentially decent and concerned parent. (The actor has two grown children of his own.) The results are comic, yes, but also poignant.
[via Digg]