In commemoration of Camp Book It!’s 40th anniversary, Pizza Hut officially announced the return of its reading program, hoping to continue its 40-year legacy of encouraging children nationwide to devour books – and quite possibly their pizzas, too.
Growing up in the ‘90s was undeniably special, and some of my fondest memories came from school.
I vividly remember the Scholastic Arrow Book Club and Pizza Hut's Camp Book It! program. Year after year, our teachers would pass out the latest Scholastic Arrow catalog, and we would excitedly scan the pamphlet, hoping to discover our new favorite books or comics. With our #2 yellow pencils, we’d mark the titles we wanted and pray our parents would cover the cost. If we were lucky, we’d then anxiously wait for our books to be delivered.
What I didn’t realize back then was that the Scholastic Book Club and Pizza Hut’s Book It! program worked wonderfully together. The Hut rewarded us with free personal pan pizzas for each book we read in a month, provided we were enrolled in their reading program. I remember being rewarded for indulging in R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps “horror” pre-teen novels.
For those of you who aren’t old enough to remember the traumatic times of coming home from school to find your Tamagotchi dead, Book It! is a genuinely special summer reading program. Pizza Hut launched it back in 1984 to empower parents and teachers to incentivize youth to read more.
This year’s incentive program will run from June through August with enrollment now open for both the summer program and the 2024-2025 school year program. It’s Free.99 for both schools and parents for kids ages 4 through 12. After the summer program, kids will also have the opportunity to participate in the school year version, which runs from October 1 through March 31.
Sadly, there is a limit to the pizza supply offer. Participants can earn only one free pizza each month while enrolled in the program. But if you ask me, that’s still nine opportunities in the school year. Nine pizzas deliciously topped with zesty marinara and gooey cheese, toasted to perfection. A win is a win.
