Here's where the Netflix comparison becomes a little more apparent: You have access to the entire library of Reading Rainbow books, but you can only download five of them at a time--each stored in a customized "backpack" of the user's choosing. If your backpack is full, you have to "return" one of the books before downloading a replacement.

Once your first book is downloaded, you touch it to open. For the first book, an animated figure--Austin, "your book buddy"--appears to explain how to use the book: The app can read it to you, or you can read it to yourself. You can push on-screen buttons to proceed through the book, or merely swipe pages. And some pages feature icons that, if pushed, animate the action on the page. Some books feature narration by Burton himself; as the narrator proceeds, blocks of text are highlighted to help young readers follow along.

A couple of other features worth mentioning: The app includes a bare-bones dashboard for parents that lets them track which books their children are reading, and how long they've spent with each book. Finish the book, and you're given a "sticker" signifying the achievement, stickers can be used to decorate the animated topic islands. If a reader tires of a book, he or she can swipe out to play a memory-match card game.

And a final intriguing note: The app should continue to evolve, with new books, videos, and topic-oriented islands to guide young readers, making sure Reading Rainbow doesn't get old. "You never know what surprises will be waiting for you," Burton says in the introductory video.

Reading Rainbow for iPad is compatible with devices running iOS 5.0 or later.