In 1984, the son of Steven Reinemund (the president of Pizza Hut) was having trouble reading. Steve wanted to encourage his son to read, so he made a deal with his son. If his son read enough books, he would take him to Pizza Hut, just the two of them. Steve was a busy man, so this was a very strong incentive. This inspired his son to read and the father thought that this could help other students, so he set up the Book It! National Reading Incentive Program.
This program rewards students from kindergarten through sixth grade who read a given amount of books in a month with the ability to get a free personal pan pizza. The free personal pan Book It! coupons are given out by participating schools. The student then can go to Pizza Hut with their parents and enjoy a free pizza.
Now 32 years later, this project has helped many children become excited about reading books. In fact, many of today’s parents also participated in the Book It! program when they were children.
The Book It! program has awarded millions of children with coupons for free personal pan pizza’s for reading books. The program has been recognized by many community leaders including president of the United States, George H. W. Bush.