Believe it or not, Pizza Hut’s BOOK IT! program was born in 1984 and is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. Truly, 1984 was a golden year for pop culture and nostalgia.

In short, the program provides teachers with Reading Award Certificates, which kids (grade K-6, ages 5-12) can redeem for a free, one-topping personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut. Basically, they’re using free pizza to bribe kids to read. And I am 100% on board with this.

To mark the anniversary, Pizza Hut has teamed up with best-selling author – and all-around great guy – Tom Angleberger to put more books in kids’ hands (and pizzas in their bellies).

Throughout the 2019-2020 school year, Angleberger’s 6-book Origami Yoda series will be incorporated into all BOOK IT! classrooms, teacher materials, and website creative.

The original book in the series, The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, is itself coming up on a milestone and about to celebrate its 10th anniversary! Please do check out my conversations with Tom here and here.

To kick things off, and to celebrate Star Wars Day (May the 4th) in style, Pizza Hut is offering a 35% discount off all menu-priced items. The promotion is available for today only (May 4th), for online orders, and at participating locations. Customers can redeem the deal using code ORIGAMIYODA.

Additionally and beyond today, Pizza Hut will donate 10,000 copies of Angleberger’s books to educators via First Book – a nonprofit social enterprise that supports educators serving kids in need with affordable access to new, high-quality, curated books and educational resources.

Angleberger is actually the BOOK IT! program’s third author partner. Previous partners were Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid series) and Kate DiCamillo (The Tale of Despereaux, Flora and Ulysses, Raymie Nightingale). So he’s clearly in good company.

According to Angleberger, “The BOOK IT! Program has a legacy of fostering a love for books by showing children reading can be more than a homework assignment, instilling great habits from the very start. I couldn’t be more excited to join the renowned BOOK IT! family and incorporate the Origami Yoda series into classrooms nationwide for students and teachers to enjoy.”

For more information, visit www.BOOKITprogram.com or follow BOOK IT! on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.