FYI: There's a documentary about Reading Rainbow on Netflix. I haven't watched it yet.
Edit: Just watched it. It's amazing. It made me love LeVar Burton even more than I already did. Also, he played a blind guy on The Love Boat before he was on TNG.
While looking for the exact phrasing of "But you don't have to take my word for it" I found out there's been a lot of drama surrounding Burton vs. the company that owns the rights.