Kids Can Earn Free Pizza for Reading this Summer with Camp Book It!

I grew up in the Eighties and Nineties - and before we had Accelerated Reader, teachers had to "convince" children to read on a regular basis. We all know one of the best ways to convince children to do anything is to promise them food.  I mean, the big offer was a popcorn party in class...

Now, I grew up on the outskirts of Owensboro. "Going to town" was a big deal and something we pretty much only did for church and grocery shopping. But once in a while, after grocery shopping, my mom would stop and get me a special treat. There were three things that I LOVED.

• Icees from K-Mart
• Chicken McNugget Happy Meals from McDonalds (with sweet and sour sauce or else it's not worth eating)
• Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pizzas

I mean, throw in a hot dog and some Kraft cheese slices and these are basically the flavors of childhood. The Icees were pretty easy to talk my mom into. We went to K-Mart for everything. Blue Light special? Yes please! The Happy Meal wasn't bad either - it had a drive-thru. But the personal pan pizza? I had to earn those. And I DID.

See, once in a while, I'd read a whole bunch of books and my teacher would give me a little bookmark with a special sticker which was my one-way ticket to PIZZAVILLE. The program was called Book It! and if you read enough books you'd earn yourself a personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut. AND YOU COULD PICK THE TOPPING YOU WANTED... mushrooms. Always mushrooms. Now, again, we weren't eating pizza once a week or EVER so this was HUGE for me. HUGE. Apparently, it was huge for a lot of people. You can read all about that here. 

When you get to middle school, sadly, childish things like Reading Rainbow, JUST SAY NO rallies, and Book It! just don't cut the mustard anymore. I hadn't really thought about BI much until I had a daughter who is right in that sweet spot of childhood. Until recently, your child's school had to be a part of the Book It! program or you had to homeschool for your kids to get their hands on those free delicious personal pan pizzas. But recently, they opened it up to parent-lead accountability with the Book-It Summer Camp.

Camp BOOK IT!

Parents, join us for our first ever Camp BOOK IT! and keep rewarding your kids all summer long. Track and reward your kids' reading for June, July and August in our digital dashboard. When they meet their monthly reading goal, they'll receive a free one-topping Personal Pan Pizza® from Pizza Hut! We'll also share fun activities and book recommendations each week to keep the fun going throughout the summer!

Kids can read books, magazines or eBooks. When your child meets their reading goals, they receive a certificate for a personal pan pizza which is sent to your email. They also offer a bunch of parent resources like an activity booklet, a newsletter, reading while at summer camp, and more! Click here to enroll your kids. 

Teachers and homeschool parents can also enroll their classrooms for the 2020-21 school year in the Pizza Hut Book It Program.  It runs from October thru March.

I'm really excited about this and enrolled my daughter immediately. When I told her about it last night, she wasn't terribly excited. She's not a fan of pizza BUT guess who is... the mom who drools over buttery bready crust, melty cheese, hot dry mushrooms, and is holding her accountable to read this summer! Maybe I'll make myself a Book It! pass and allow myself to eat all the pizza I want as my reward! #dontjudgeme