LeVar Burton is bringing some of his Reading Rainbow magic to today’s kids with the help of Tonies!
This fall, the PBS star will be visiting kids’ Tonieboxes as their personal narrator through his own Tonie figure. Kids can tune into a children’s book Burton authored while participating in a reading challenge for a chance to win a special, school storytime visit from Burton himself!
The LeVar Burton Tonie figure, which is compatible with Toniebox players (sold separately) comes with an audio recording of his book, The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm. The story follows a rhinoceros that’s overwhelmed by a storm that sweeps away everything he loves. Swallowing the storm just makes him feel worse, so Rhino sets off on a journey of healing. Along the way, he meets many friends, such as a kind spider, a brave kangaroo, and a wise tortoise. With their help, Rhino learns to let go of the storm he keeps bottled up inside. The Burton Tonie also comes with activities and lessons on emotional learning and literacy as well as an “audio field trip” for imagination building.
To accompany this release, Tonies and Burton are challenging kids to a reading contest as part of a childhood literacy initiative, beginning today. The #ReadToYourChild challenge encourages parents to film a video of themselves reading their favorite childhood story to their kids, post it to Instagram with #ReadToYourChild, and tagging Tonies (@tonies.us) and Burton (@levar.burton) by Aug. 10. Burton will select his favorite entry to win an in-person visit and storytime at the chosen family’s school, along with a school donation of 25 Tonieboxes.
LeVar Burton’s “Rhino” Tonie will be released on Sept. 9, and parents can sign up for the waitlist here. To check out full rules and details about the #ReadToYourChild challenge, click here. To follow more news about Tonies releases and products, visit us.tonies.com.
