Pizza Hut's Book It! Program Fostering a Love for Reading

Jun 10, 2014 11:00 AM ET

Yum! Global Newsroom: People

As students across the U.S. prepare to close the book on another school year, many of them will keep the pages turning while class is out thanks to Pizza Hut's reading incentive program, BOOK IT!.

The program's summer initiative, "Spark Your Greatness Summer Reading Challenge," launches June 1. It follows another successful school-year program that reached more than 620,000 classrooms and 14 million students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Using the BOOK IT! Minute Tracker, an interactive online tool for teachers, those students logged more than 132 million minutes of reading during the six month program.

The upcoming reading challenge encourages families to help slay the "summer slide" and make reading a family activity while school is out. It incorporates activities, games and a chance for kids to win prizes for reading five books.

Founded in 1984 by former Pizza Hut President Art Gunther, BOOK IT! has become the longest running corporate supported reading incentive program in the U.S, receiving endorsement from former President Ronald Reagan and a national day named in its honor. To learn more about the program and how it's promoting childhood literacy, visit the official website, http://www.bookitprogram.com/.