A Bibliophile’s Nostalgia: Pizza Hut’s Book It

I’m back again with my blog post series to revisit some bookish things that give me all the nostalgia feels. Today, I’ll be talking about Pizza Hut’s reading program, Book It.

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Starting back in 1984, the Pizza Hut BOOK IT! The program has been dedicated to encouraging reading in schools nationwide and is still ongoing today. The program is free and how it currently works is a teacher/school (including homeschools) sets monthly reading goals for your students. When students meet their goal, they recieve a Reading Award Certificate, good for a free one-topping Personal Pan Pizza.

The program was inspired by Arthur Gunther, then-president of Pizza Hut (1984), who thought of his son, Michael, who had had trouble with reading due to eye problems when was growing up. Arthur met with educators in the Kansas area with the goal of coming up with a program that eventually became Pizza Hut’s BOOK IT! program.

As a child, I was already a voracious reader, ready to get my hands on any book that could pique my interest. Summer was my favorite time of the year because I could get more downtime to read outside of school assignments. Pizza was back then (and still to this day) is my favorite food and when younger me was told that I could get free pizza for doing something I already loved that I was more than happy to participate.

I’m glad to see that the program is still ongoing for a newer generation and even though it’s changed (ex. the digital aspect) at its core it promotes literacy. This program encourages readers to read anything and everything, prompting them to explore the world around them. Plus, a free pan pizza doesn’t hurt either. That used to be my go-to order at Pizza Hut as a kid. Reading incentive programs for the win!

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Did you participate in the Book It program growing up? Do you feel they should have a program for all ages? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.