By Zanub Saeed
Pizza Hut's BOOK IT! nationwide reading incentive program announced on Thursday that it will collaborate with best-selling author Jeff Kinney, famous for the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series to integrate the books into the upcoming 2012-2013 academic school year beginning in October.
The six-book series, with a seventh installment set to be released in November 2012, will become BOOK IT! classrooms reading materials, teacher printables, and web creative and their official website, noted the press release issued by Pizza Hut on Thursday.
"This new chapter brings two recognizable names together to advocate a love of reading for school-age children," Shelley Morehead, BOOK IT! Program administrator, stated for the press release. "We've revamped our BOOK IT! materials to feature Gregory Heffley, the loveable youngster who has made Diary of a Wimpy Kid a sensation. Jeff Kinney's amazing series has resonated with our BOOK IT! audience and we're looking forward to adding this new touch to our celebrated program."
The "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series, from which two movies have already been made, will become part of the 27th year of Pizza Hut's reading initiative, said the press release. The incentive program started in 1985 across schools in the United States, and has thus far reached over 670,000 classrooms and 14 million children on a yearly basis, listed the press release.
Pizza Hut's direct involvement includes a prize incentive for those young readers who kept up with their monthly reading goals. Teachers and librarians, said the press release, give students a minimal monthly reading limit, and when children have reached or surpassed them, they are given a reading award certificate. That certificate can be taken to a local Pizza Hut restaurant, whereupon they are greeted with congratulations for fulfilling their monthly quota, and given a free one-topping personal pan pizza of their choice, sand the press release.
"For 27 years the BOOK IT! Program has been promoting children's literacy and getting kids excited about reading," added Kinney for the press release. "I'm thrilled to have Greg Heffley and Diary of a Wimpy Kid as a part of the program and to encourage kids to discover magic between the pages of a book."
