Reading for Pizza: The Book It Legacy

Send us Fan MailHave you ever tracked your reading hours to collect a tasty reward when you met your goal? Did you proudly display your purple Book It pin on your jean jacket?If pizza is still your only motivation to read, you might be a Xennial who grew up chasing down personal pan pizzas in the Book It program. And we are too. For countless kids growing up in the 80s and 90s, Pizza Hut's reading incentive program transformed the sometimes daunting task of reading into an adventure with the tastiest of rewards: Personal pan pizzas earned through literary achievement.Dani dives deep into the surprising 40-year history of this beloved literacy program. What started as a marketing idea quickly became a cultural phenomenon, reaching 7 million children in just eleven months after its 1984 launch. Want to join our summer 2025 Xennial book club? Sign up here!Leave us a glowing review wherever you listen to podcasts, and connect with Generation In-Between: A Xennial Podcast at all the places below:PatreonTikTokInstagramFacebookEmail us at [email protected] an episode topic here