My Friend LeVar is a lovely picture book that celebrates LeVar Burton & the connection that Reading Rainbow made for generations of young children. I loved all of the adventures that our protagonist went on with LeVar and remember seeing many of the same Reading Rainbow episodes as a child.

I hope that this one will find a new young audience and inspire them to watch Reading Rainbow as well. Thanks to Charlesbridge, Ezra Edmond, and NetGalley for the chance to read and review! My thoughts and opinions are my own.

At first I worried this book would only serve 90's kids with nostalgia, but its a really cute TRUE story of a boy who is introduced to stories on the TV show Reading Rainbow and how his imagination goes wild from there. He ends up running into Levar Burton at a drugstore and you can see the real photo at the end of the book. What a fun way to teach kids about a pop culture icon who influenced so many of us to pick up reading. "But you don't have to take my word for it!"

A beautiful love letter to Reading Rainbow and LeVar Burton. Like many kids, I grew up watching Reading Rainbow and, to this day, will see a book that he read and instantly recognize it. This may be a niche book, but Mr. Burton deserves every bit of credit he gets for his love of reading and childhood literacy and the author has such a beautiful memory and I'm grateful he shared with us!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for access to the e-ARC.

The illustrations were great! It has the real-life connection of being a child and idolizing a famous person. It incorporated culture and some things I can expand on when reading to my class. I am giving it a 3-star rating due to the higher vocabulary being used. Instead of Fables/Folklore, I would have used Fairy Tales since this is a book geared toward children. Most children in today's society do not know the story of Paul Bunyan so I think I would have used a different tale to have it be more relatable. Overall, I think the plot line and illustrations will have my class enjoying it!

I'm forever a Reading Rainbow kid and a Star Trek adult, so LeVar has always been around. I was so excited to see this book, and I'm happy he's getting the flowers he rightfully deserves! ♥

My Friend LeVar is a wonderful tribute to the man and his impact on generations of bookish kids. With beautiful illustrations, it recounts the true story of the author's love of (and eventual accidental encounter with!) LeVar. It's a perfect tribute.

I also love that the author compiled a list of referenced episodes at the end. Very helpful for those who want to go back and reminisce, as well as for those who are hopefully introducing Reading Rainbow to a new generation of kiddos. 🌈

(Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.)