PIZZA HUT BOOK IT! PROGRAM TEAMS UP WITH AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR Kate DiCamilloTO INSPIRE YOUNG READERS

Commitment to improving lives through literacy and reading continues for the pizza restaurant company; partnership marks the start of enrollment for 2016-2017 BOOK IT! year

The Pizza Hut BOOK IT! Program, known for instilling a love of reading in more than 14 million students across the U.S. each year, has announced today a new literary partner beginning in the 2016-17 school year – two-time Newbery Medal Award-winning author Kate DiCamillo. Today’s announcement also marks the start of enrollment for BOOK IT! in the 2016-17 school year.

DiCamillo’s award-winning book, Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, illustrated by K.G. Campbell, will be incorporated into all BOOK IT! classroom materials, teacher printables and web creative at www.BOOKITprogram.com.  Winner of the 2014 Newbery Medal, Flora and Ulysses is an adventure novel starring 10-year-old Flora Belle and her superhero squirrel Ulysses. The book is celebrated in teacher circles for helping students explore interpersonal relationships, expand their vocabulary, create superhero-themed artwork and begin learning about poetry and philosophy.

DiCamillo uses her platform as a world-renowned writer to encourage children to find the joy in reading. Starting in 2014 she served for two years as the Library of Congress’s National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. This summer, she will also serve as the 2016 National Summer Reading Champion, and will be traveling to promote her new novel, Raymie Nightingale, to be published on April 12.

BOOK IT! is simple, flexible, fun and free to use in the classroom. Running every school year from October 1 through March 31, the goal of the program – available for children from kindergarten through sixth grade – is to foster a love of reading. Students who meet monthly reading goals set by their teacher receive a Reading Award Certificate to redeem at participating Pizza Hut locations for a one-topping Personal Pan Pizza and a Passport to Reading Award.

For more information, visit www.BOOKITprogram.com.

About BOOK IT!

Created in 1984 by Pizza Hut, BOOK IT! currently reaches over 14 million students in 620,000 classrooms annually. The longest-running, corporate-supported reading program in the country has engaged educators for more than three decades. Since its inception, more than 62 million students have participated in the program.

For additional information about the Pizza Hut BOOK IT! program, visit www.BOOKITprogram.com. Follow BOOK IT! on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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