BOOK IT! With Diary of a Wimpy Kid
BOOK IT!, the national reading incentive program sponsored by Pizza Hut, announced Thursday it has joined with author Jeff Kinney and his book series Diary of a Wimpy Kid to kick off registration for the 2012-13 school year.
Fresh off a Nickelodeon 2012 Kids Choice Awards win for “Best Book,” Diary of a Wimpy Kid will be integrated into all BOOK IT! classroom materials, teacher printables and web creative at bookitprogram.com.
With this integration comes a new BOOK IT! tagline: “Read Your Heart Out™,” motivating children to make reading an important part of everyday life.
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series draws in all types of readers, including reluctant ones, through Kinney’s novel in cartoons format. One of the leading children’s book series, Diary of a Wimpy Kid books have been on multiple national bestsellers lists since publication of the original volume in 2007.
[ Also Read: Raman Media Network Books for Children ]There are more than 75 million copies in print in over 40 countries around the world. Kinney’s ability to bring excitement to a new generation of readers will propel new interest in the BOOK IT! Program – especially as fans wait for the Nov. 13, 2012, release of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book 7.
“For 27 years the BOOK IT! Program has been promoting children’s literacy and getting kids excited about reading,” added Kinney. “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.”
The reading incentive program launched by Pizza Hut in 1985 reaches more than 670,000 classrooms and 14 million children annually. Registration for the 2012-13 school year is now open and the program begins in October.
Teachers and librarians set monthly goals and present students with a reading award certificate when goals are met. Students take the certificates to a Pizza Hut restaurant, where they are congratulated by a team member and given a free, one-topping Personal Pan Pizza. There is no purchase necessary and the pizza can be taken to go.
The BOOK IT! Program is part of the “Share a Slice of Hope” movement at Pizza Hut. Share a Slice of Hope encourages consumers and Pizza Hut employees to help others through the company’s three philanthropic pillars: children’s literacy, world hunger relief and community involvement.
