In a tweet from yesterday (April 27), LeVar Burton shared his excitement after it was announced he’d be receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at the new children’s Emmys.

The longtime family favorite who served as the host for the popular kid’s TV show “Reading Rainbow” from 1983 to 2006 will receive the award at the inaugural Children’s and Family Emmys in December. The news comes from the Television Academy.

“Whoa,” Burton said in a tweet along with a surprised emoji face.

When Burton took on the role as the host of the hit TV series in 1983, he also held the title of executive producer. The educational programming show that helped to raise most of us featured Burton reading books and explaining current events in a way that children could understand and relate to.

“Reading Rainbow” successfully aired for 23 years, winning 12 Daytime Emmys and a Peabody Award along the way. Burton has also picked up a Grammy and several NAACP Image Awards for his contributions.

According to the Television Academy, the Children’s and Family Emmys will be the first standalone Emmy awards show since 1979, when the Sports Emmy Awards and the News & Documentary Emmy Awards were founded.

Before Burton hosted the popular kid’s show, he starred as Kunta Kinte in ABC’s 1977 miniseries “Roots.” While hosting “Reading Rainbow,” the actor also portrayed Geordi La Forge in the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” TV series in 1986.

Following Alex Trebek’s passing in 2020, Burton spent some time as a guest host on the long-running game show “Jeopardy!”

After his run on the game show, Burton received several other honors like his podcast, “LeVar Burton Reads,” being the recipient of a Webby Award this year.

The upcoming 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals will be hosted by Burton this summer.

The inaugural Children’s and Family Emmys will take place on Dec. 11 at the Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles.