PLANO, Texas, Oct. 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- It's one of the
best match ups since pizza and reading got together back in 1984:
Pizza Hut, the world's largest pizza company, is kicking off the
31st year of BOOK IT! with a literacy-focused
collaboration with Amazon.
To help Pizza Hut celebrate the launch of BOOK IT! this year,
Amazon is offering two free Kindle books to parents of BOOK IT!
readers – 2015 Geisel Medal winner and ALA Notable Children's Book
You Are (Not) Small, by Anna
Kang and Christopher Weyant,
and Secrets of the Book, by middle grade language arts and
history teacher Erin Fry.
In addition, Amazon has discounted hundreds of Kindle children's
books from Amazon Publishing's Two Lions publishing imprint to 50%
off as part of this year's BOOK IT! launch, including Arthur's
New Puppy, by Marc Brown;
Ralph Tells a Story, by Abby
Hanlon; That's (Not) Mine, by Anna Kang and Christopher Weyant; The Missing Pieces of
Me, by Jean Van Leeuwen; and
The Blood Guard, by Carter
Roy. Parents can access the free and discounted books by
visiting www.bookitprogram.com/amazon.
"We are proud to team with the BOOK IT! Program toward our
shared goal of helping kids develop a love of reading," said
David Blum, Publisher and
Editor-in-Chief of Amazon Publishing's children's imprint, Two
Lions, "We're excited to have our authors' fantastic stories
available to kids across the country as they work toward their
reading goals this school year."
Since 1984, more than 60 million students have participated in
BOOK IT!, which motivates children to read more by rewarding their
reading accomplishments. In 2014, for the 30th anniversary of BOOK
IT!, more than 250,000 alumni joined The BOOK IT! Alumni Program,
celebrating the accomplishments of past "BOOK IT! Kids." Today,
BOOK IT! reaches more than 14 million students in 620,000
classrooms annually.
"We're thrilled that we've been able to play a role in
increasing literacy awareness for 31 years, and we're still going
strong," said Shelley Morehead,
manager of the Pizza Hut BOOK IT! Program. "Moving from print to
digital books is a natural evolution for the BOOK IT! Program and
working with Amazon means BOOK IT! parents will have instant access
to books to help students reach their reading goals each month; we
can't wait to see what's in the next chapter for BOOK IT!"
Kids and their parents can read Kindle children's books on
Amazon's Kindle e-readers or Fire tablets, on the free Kindle app
for iPhone, iPad, Android and more, or on any web browser
compatible with Kindle Cloud Reader.
In addition to the collaboration with Amazon, BOOK IT! offers
tons of great features for teachers and families. For example, the
Teacher Dashboard works in conjunction with a mobile app and a new
web timer as an innovative way to track print and e-book reading
goals. The app and web timer features an interactive game
where students choose their favorite dragon to be their reading
companion through the duration of the program. Students will earn
"coins" for every minute spent reading that they can cash in for
accessories for the dragons such as fun glasses, watches or
scarves. The app and web timer is connected to an online teacher
dashboard that can be used to track reading goals and to recognize
students for making progress. To learn more about the app and web
timer, visit http://teacherdashboard.bookitprogram.com/.
This year, BOOK IT! is entering into its third year partnering
with bestselling author Jeff Kinney,
creator of the award-winning Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. In
addition to Diary of Wimpy Kid themed materials, students
who are using the app will receive monthly personal motivational
messages from Jeff Kinney
himself.
Also in 2015, BOOK IT! will continue its tradition of
challenging principals across the United
States to be examples for literacy and the BOOK IT! program
by choosing one day to read, all day long, from the first bell to
the last during National Young Readers Week Nov. 9-13. To encourage a local school to
participate, visit www.bookitprogram.com/nyrw. Students and
families can also watch a new story each day during National Young
Readers Week compliments of BOOK IT! and One More Story, an online library of the best
classic and contemporary children's picture books. Access the
stories at pizzahut.com/bookit and check out onemorestory.com for
special pricing on school subscriptions.
For additional information about the Pizza Hut BOOK IT! Program,
visit www.bookitprogram.com. Follow BOOK IT! on Facebook
(www.facebook.com/bookitprogram), Twitter
(www.twitter.com/bookitprogram) and Instagram
(www.instagram.com/bookitprogram).
About Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut, a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM),
delivers more pizza, pasta and wings than any other restaurant in
the world. The company began 57 years ago in Wichita, Kansas, when two brothers borrowed
$600 from their mom to start a
pizzeria.
What started out small has become the biggest pizza company in
the world and today operates more than 15,600 restaurants in more
than 90 countries serving innovative pizzas, traditional favorites
like the signature Pan Pizza, and much more. Pizza Hut also is the
proprietor of the BOOK IT!® Program, which is a long-standing
children's literacy program used in more than 630,000 classrooms
nationwide. For more information, visit www.pizzahut.com. Follow
Pizza Hut on Facebook (www.facebook.com/PizzaHut), Twitter
(www.twitter.com/pizzahut) and Instagram
(www.instagram.com/pizzahut).
About BOOK IT!
Created in 1984, BOOK IT! currently reaches over 14 million
students in 620,000 classrooms annually.
The BOOK IT! Fairy Tale Giveaway was created to celebrate the
program's 30th anniversary, and participating children were
eligible for a chance to win a $30,000 College Plan if they met their reading
goals all six months from October to March, redeemed their Reading
Award Certificates at Pizza Hut and collected all six official
stickers. Nationwide, 15 million students participated in the 30th
Anniversary of BOOK IT!, combining to read books for 700 million
minutes in one year.
*For all media inquiries, please contact Pizza Hut:
Doug Terfehr, 972-338-6992,
Doug.Terfehr@yum.com
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SOURCE Pizza Hut