Water cooler: LeVar Burton, other celebrities read to homebound kids

Celebrities everywhere have begun reading books on various social media platforms to kids who are stuck at home because of quarantine, but it’s hard to compete with probably the most famous reader of children’s books there is, LeVar Burton.

The public television run for “Reading Rainbow” ended in 2006, but Burton is back, this time on Twitter. He reads books for children 9 a.m. Mondays, for young adults 3 p.m. Wednesdays and for adults 6 p.m. Fridays. Catch in on Twitter @levarburton.

The Spokesman-Review’s Northwest Passages Book Club has taken a similar direction, creating videos of local community members reading some of their favorite children’s books. Readers featured have included Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, astronaut Anne McClain, editor-in-chief Rob Curley, comedian and actor Eric Edelstein, Jennifer Davis of The Scoop, and Ben Goldfarb, author of “Eager Beaver.” Watch them all at spokesman.com/sections/story-time/.

Country superstar Dolly Parton has a series called “Goodnight with Dolly” that releases new episodes 4 p.m. Thursdays on the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library channel.

Save With Stories, available on Instagram or Facebook @savewithstories, has partnered with Save the Children and No Kid Hungry to offer readings from celebrities, artists and writers and to bring awareness to children who may be experiencing food insecurity during quarantine and school closures. Guests have included Steve Carrell, Olivia Wilde, America Ferrera, Sugar Ray Leonard, Glenn Close, James Marsden, J.J. Abrams, Jeff Goldblum, Demi Lovato, Pink and Al Yankovic.

Storyline Online is a children’s literacy program created by the Screen Actors Guild Foundation. Their videos feature animations of the illustrations, unique scores and readings from some of the most well-loved actors, including Betty White, Chris Pine, Wanda Sykes, the late Ernest Borgnine and Elijah Wood. This program has been around for a few years, so there are plenty of books to choose. Find their videos at Storylineonline.com or on their YouTube channel.

Social circle

Brain train

Test your knowledge with today’s trivia question

How many episodes of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” were made?

• 1,214
• 874
• 711
• 912

Tuesday’s answer: “A King in New York”

Soapy songs

If your little ones still need reminders to wash their hands, here is a playlist of songs that harness the power of melody to get it stuck in their brains, and probably yours, too.

“The Handwashing Song” by The Wiggles: Created in partnership with UNICEF Australia, this song gives step-by-step instructions for proper hand-washing technique.

“Wash Your Hands with Baby Shark” by Pinkfong! Kids’ Songs & Stories: The legend of Baby Shark needs no introduction. This version uses the classic jingle of the original, so you and the kids should have no trouble remembering it.

“The Epic Hand Washing Parody” by Peter Hollens: Enjoy hygiene-conscious parodies of popular songs from the past couple of years that will have you singing “Don’t go out bro” to the tune of “Despacito” before you know it. You’ll realize that you lost your mind in quarantine when you crack up to someone singing “Can’t nobody stop this scrubbin.”

“Wash Your Hands Children’s Song” by Hooray Kids Songs and Nursery Rhymes: This song features visualizations of how germs spread to hands through daily tasks. Plus the hands have a jammin’ percussion when they’re begging the kids to wash the grime off them.

“Stayin’ Inside – Coronavirus Bee Gees Parody” by Brent McCollough: Not entirely about hand-washing, but perhaps catchy enough to convince the kids that “Whether you’re a brother or whether you’re a mother, you’re stayin’ inside, stayin’ inside.”

‘App’lied learning

Tools on your phone or tablet to help with at-home teaching.

ABCmouse.com: This app uses story-based videos to teach various subjects. For ages 2-8.

Epic!: An e-book library with over 35,000 books with a read-to-me feature for those still learning to read. For ages 2-12.

Duolingo: Practice learning Spanish, French, German, Chinese and more with quizzes and activities that slowly build in difficulty. For ages 10 and older.

Lightbot – Code House: Kids can learn basic concepts of coding without having to know how to write it. Instead it shows kids the functions and concepts commonly found in code. For ages 8 and older.

Also: Stack the States 2 and Quick Math Jr.