Pizza Hut's 'BOOK IT!' Summer Reading Program Returns to Provide Voracious Young Readers with Pizza Parties and More
Pizza Hut's 'BOOK IT!' Summer Reading Program Returns to Provide Voracious Young Readers with Pizza Parties and More
Angela AndaloroWed, April 29, 2026 at 6:30 PM UTC
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BOOK IT! participants from 1991 (left), BOOK IT! pins and pizzaCredit: Simon Alekna/Fairfax Media via Getty; Pizza Hut BOOK IT! Program/Instagram -
Pizza Hut's BOOK IT! program has announced the return of "Summer of Stories," where kids can earn personal pan pizzas and more for meeting reading goals
The program, open for kids in pre-K through 6th grade, will run from June 1 to August 31
Parents and teachers can sign kids up for the summer reading program through the BOOK IT! App
A nostalgic incentive to keep kids reading over the summer is making its return.
On April 23, BOOK IT! announced the exciting news on Instagram that "SUMMER OF STORIES IS BACK! 📚🍕".
The program, familiar to many Gen X and millennials who participated in elementary school, will open for enrollment starting May 1, the organization revealed. "Get ready to turn reading time into pizza time! 🎉 This summer, keep your kids' reading, learning, and loving books… all while earning FREE pizza. 🙌."
Readers who hit their milestones will be provided digital Reading Award Certificates, which are redeemable for a free, one-topping Personal Pan Pizza® from Pizza Hut. Students may redeem one Reading Award Certificate per month, and the certificate must be used to reward the student who earned it. The student must be present. When a child redeems their certificate with Pizza Hut, they are celebrated. This program is completely free.
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The program, open for kids in pre-K through 6th grade, will run from June 1 to August 31. Parents and teachers can sign kids up through the BOOK IT! App.
The program, which originated in the mid-1980s, began when Arthur Gunther, then-president of Pizza Hut, and Bud Gates, a marketing executive at the company, discussed renewed calls for literacy support from then-President Ronald Reagan.
The idea became fleshed out after Gates reportedly thought about what would incentivize his own child to get interested in reading. It was then that the idea of using pizzas and classroom pizza parties as an incentive to get kids reading came up.
An LA Times article detailing its success reported that 7 million students in 233,080 classrooms across the nation took advantage of the program, less than a year after launch.
Today, BOOK IT! also provides programs for parents, teachers and homeschool teachers to utilize during the school year. Fans are also calling for a similar program to be implemented for adult readers, nostalgic for that childhood feeling of achievement.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
