The end of Reading Rainbow.

So.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't know that Reading Rainbow was still on.  (In my defense, we haven't had television reception for, like, ever.  Or, obviously, cable.)

But that doesn't make me any less sad to hear that it is ending tomorrow.

From NPR:

Grant says that PBS, CPB and the Department of Education put significant funding toward programming that would teach kids how to read — but that's not what Reading Rainbow was trying to do.

"Reading Rainbow taught kids why to read," Grant says. "You know, the love of reading — [the show] encouraged kids to pick up a book and to read."

Here're some italics of my own:  While of course I understand that it's important to teach kids how to read (DUH), I think it's just as important to teach kids why to read, to get them excited about reading, to teach them the magic and power of books, and to inspire them to want to learn to read.

There's a conversation going on about it at Twitter:  #SaveReadingRainbow.