LeVar Burton’s likeness and voice to be preserved as a Tonie for his book The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm

LeVar Burton with Toniebox and his exclusive Tonie. Image tonies

AUGUST 4, 2021 - From Reading Rainbow and the LeVar Burton Reads podcast, to helping raise over $200,000 for Reading Is Fundamental as a guest host of Jeopardy!, Star Trek: The Next Generation’s LeVar Burton continues to demonstrate his passion for the written word.

A press release from July 27th revealed that Burton, who credits his English teacher mother with his love of reading, has partnered with the toymaker tonies to produce an audio version of his book, The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm, for their Toniebox.

tonies are audio systems for children and, according to the release, “…[work] with the combination of a Toniebox, a soft, shockproof, portable five-inch speaker cube with no screens, sharp corners or edges, complicated controls, etc., and Tonies, hand-painted figures containing stories, songs and more.”

Burton himself lent his voice to the audio recording of the book, in which a young rhino learns to navigate difficult feelings after a disaster, with a little bit of help from his friends. The book won the Chicago Tribune’s 2015 Young Adult Literary Award.

Burton and tonies have also established the #ReadToYourChild social media contest in which parents can post a video of themselves reading to their children. A grand prize winner will receive a visit from Burton to their child’s school, and he will also make a school donation of 25 Tonieboxes. 

LeVar Burton’s tonies, with or without a separate Toniebox, will go on sale September 9th. You can order a variety of Tonieboxes and starter kits from Amazon.com or other toy shops, and if you specifically want Burton’s rhino Tonie, you can sign up for launch updates at tonies.com.