Hey, book lovers! šŸ“š It’s Holly here, and today I want to talk about something I watched today thatā€™s newly released on Netflix. Have you seen the Butterfly in the Sky documentary? I know it came out in 2022, but this is my first time watching it.Ā  I have to say, if you grew up in the ’80s or ’90s like me, you’ll probably remember Reading Rainbow and love this documentary.

Reading Rainbow was hosted by the amazing LeVar Burton and was aired between 1983 and 2006.Ā  I donā€™t think Iā€™m the only one who will say it was more than just a TV show. It was a gateway to new worlds. It helped to foster a true love for reading and curiosity. For me, it was a lifeline that nurtured my passion for stories and eventually led me to become who I am today.

This documentary beautifully captures the essence of what made Reading Rainbow so impactful. Let me break it down in terms of what it ā€“ and reading – did for me.

As a child, I lived in a tiny farming community in Idaho.Ā  I was raised in a religious system that has many of the markers, according to the BITE model, of authoritarian control. As a young girl in that organization, I wasnā€™t expected to do much more than get married, have children, and keep the children inside the religious organization. Economically, we didnā€™t have a lot. Ā In addition, it was not an unusual comment to be heard saying that ā€œtoo much educationā€ should be feared.

Iā€™m entitled in many ways, but I was not entitled in some other very important ones. I had a mind and a soul that wanted to flyā€¦ but the prognosis for my future was dim.

Reading allowed my mind and my spirit to learn and to fly. It allowed me to explore internally what I thought about issues.Ā  It helped me to see that all human voices are important. It made me a kinder, more compassionate person. It made me curious to form friendships with people who had different skin colors or customs than me. And then, I learned that my voice was important.Ā  My voice. Not the dogma of the religious system that told me my worth was predicated on the measures they gave me.

I learned I was worth what I said I was worth, not what others told me.

It made me safe because it gave me knowledge. It helped me to find my voice and to find it early. It helped me to dream, and it gave me the skills to accomplish those dreams. Iā€™m a corporate communications manager and a published author now. These are things Iā€™m proud of and ones that I would not have expected of myself when I was a child. These things enrich my family, allowing us to travel and enjoy art and do so many different things. Iā€™m passing something good on to my daughter, helping her to find her voice and to be secure in it, too.

I KNEW that I was lucky to have gained a love of reading. I had access to ideas and free thought. My parents would have objected to at least half of what I read as a kid and a young teen because I read far above my grade level. The selection of books at our tiny library meant I made it through everything ā€œage-appropriateā€ long before I left that age. So, I read adult books. A lot of them. Adult books that, not so shockingly, had adult content.

ALL OF THIS MADE ME A BETTER PERSON.

Here’s the thingā€”today, our libraries are under threat. Certain parties ā€“ Iā€™m not even sure exactly who because they pull the strings in the background ā€“ have finally figured out what Iā€™ve known all along, that “lucky” thing that I had access to that helped me pull myself up into a life that I’m proud of and that makes me happy.

Libraries. Books. Readingā€¦

These help people to RISE.

In this country in this momentā€¦ they do NOT want us to rise. This assault on books… it’s not about pornographic material. Itā€™s about stopping the ability of our people to think and to create better lives for themselves.

Itā€™s so dangerous, and Iā€™m worried for my daughterā€™s generationā€¦ and Iā€™m worried even for me.

I donā€™t have endless time during the day to devote to fighting these things.Ā  Iā€™m in a fulltime corporate comms role, and I write novels in my spare time when I can. I donā€™t have time to follow a script given to me by Moms for Liberty like some other women do, to show up at any hour of the day or night to schools my kids donā€™t even go to with the goal of getting works of literature banned.

The fact that this is happeningā€¦ that we have to deal with thisā€¦ it infuriates me.

Watching Butterfly in the Sky todayā€¦ it brought back so many wonderful memories of summer afternoons coming in from outside to see where Reading Rainbow was going to take me. Contrasting that with what my daughter is seeing, to the way our politicians and so-called leaders are advocating to take these opportunities away from our kidsā€¦ itā€™s so sad.

And hereā€™s the thing.Ā  My teen WILL ALWAYS have access to any book she wants as long as I have an income to help her buy it. Iā€™ve got resources to do that now because I watched Reading Rainbow and spent my childhood reading.

So, itā€™s not my kid who is going to suffer the most.

Itā€™s the kids that are like I was.Ā  Itā€™s the little girl in the Idaho farming community in the religious organization that tells her sheā€™s nothing more than a body for men to procreate with. This is THE TRUTH about what was going on in our country back then, and itā€™s the truth about whatā€™s going on in our country right now. Parts of our society are unwilling to share. We’ve talked a lot about equality over the last decades… but there many who will do everything they can so that we’re not equal… because they see that as an erosion of their own power.

I wish we had something like Reading Rainbow today. Something to show that reading is important. That books are important.Ā  That the good they bring into the world is so much more than any damage that could be done from a single passage someone brought to a meeting after they picked through every title to find something salacious to use as a fearmongering tool.

Stand up against book bans and support your local library. Thatā€™s what Iā€™m going to do. Our future generations deserve the same opportunities to fall in love with reading.

And if you haven’t watched Butterfly in the Sky yet, I highly recommend it! But remember, you don’t have to take my word for it. šŸŒˆāœØ Let’s keep the spirit of Reading Rainbow alive by championing our libraries and the joy of reading.

Happy reading!