RRKidz’s Reading Rainbow, a subscription reading service for kids, has partnered with National Geographic Kids to bring a series of NG books to its library.

Under the terms of the partnership, Reading Rainbow will offer various National Geographic titles including: Picture the Seasons, National Geographic Readers, and the National Geographic Little Kids Look & Learn picture books. The titles will be available early this year.

Young readers can access these titles through the Reading Rainbow iPad app, which is an interactive reader based on the original TV series.  The app features hundreds of children’s books, as well as video field trips. Parents can customize the child’s experience with the app by specifying their age and interests.

After Reading Rainbow was cancelled in 2009, the show’s host, LeVar Burton knew he had to do something to save the brand. So, he and his business partner, Mark Wolfe, bought the rights to the name, launched a new company, RRKidz, and created the Reading Rainbow app featuring over 150 books, video field trips and classic clips from the TV show.

And Burton says that, at $9.99 for a month or $29.99 for six months, their app is a real steal.

“Now, when you look at that, that breaks down to $5 a month. You can spend more than $5 on a single children’s app. We were looking for a solution for families that made economic sense. It’s the wild west, you know? We are all making it up as we go along,” he said in our Media Beat interview. “We have value, a product that is of value for families, that is economic and full of the kind of enriching content that the brand, Reading Rainbow, has always been known for.”

Part 1: LeVar Burton: ‘Cutting down trees to make books is not sustainable’
Part 3: Wednesday, we discuss Burton’s role in Roots and how he achieved longevity in Hollywood.