Writing Lessons & Advice: Book It Turns Forty
Millennials, like me, grew up with some unique cultural experiences. While we indulged in the earliest, if not the best, years of cartoons, video games, internet, and music, we also read books to earn our own pizzas. Millennials, like me, remember this as the Pizza Hut Book It Program (or just the Book It Program). The premise of the Book It Program was simple (and free): reading goals are set between October and March for students between preschool and sixth grade. Goals can be set by number of minutes, pages, or books read altogether. When the goal is met, the student or students are given a Reading Award Certificate that can be redeemed for a Personal Pan Pizza from the sponsor restaurant, Pizza Hut, of course. Especially over the last several years, the program has evolved to embrace homeschool programs, summer programs, and virtual/online resources.
Twenty-twenty-four marks forty years of its literacy endeavors in the U.S.! Slight aside: I had not thought about the Book It Program since elementary school until maybe eight years ago during my college career. I searched it on Google just for kicks and was surprised it was still around even then! In fact, it is the largest and longest-running corporate-supported reading program!
Book It believes that reading makes a difference. They believe literacy matters because “daily reading to your children puts them almost one year ahead of those not being read to. But children without basic reading ability when they enter school are 3-4 times more likely to drop out later. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends parents read aloud with children to strengthen language skills, literacy development, and parent-child relationships.” According to Pizza Hut’s Chief Marketing Officer in an interview with Mashed.com, more than 14 million students are impacted each year by the program. And the evidence is clear! Based on reviews, anecdotes, and comments from various outlets, that impact looks like children discovering the world of books, getting excited about reading, improving in reading, finding motivation to read, challenging themselves, and developing other values, connections, and experiences. Like me, other millennials are pleasantly surprised the program continues and millennial parents are thrilled that their children can share in it too. We also wish for an adult equivalent. LOL!
If you're a parent or educator of students between the ages of four and twelve who you want to see love reading more, check out the Book It website for enrollment, resources, or more Q&As.
Happy fortieth birthday, Book It! Thanks for all the good work so far and here’s to many more!
I hope this post brought back some good nostalgia if Book It was part of your life growing up! Whether or not it was, I hope you invest in and/or commit to literacy development for the next generation, if not your own life. It goes a long way for sure!
Were you a #bookitkid early in school? Did you forget about it until now? Do you have students or children involved in the program? Is there a topic you want me to cover in the future? Feel free to share your Book It experiences or Lessons & Advice suggestions in the web chat or socials!
Sources/Further reading-
Sources for reviews, anecdotes, comments: https://moneysavingmom.com/free-pizza-hut-book-it-program/
