My son and I have always loved reading together. I’ve been reading to him since he was a tiny baby and now (as he prepares for grade one) he can read some books to me. Nothing beats snuggling in bed while reading a book together. I’ve loved reading since I was a kid too; in fact, my mom saved most of my childhood books and gave them to me when my son was born. I hadn’t read some of those books in years but when I read them with my son I’m often reminded of memories of reading with my own mom. It was always fun to get “lost” in a book – discovering new worlds and adventures through stories. McDonald’s Canada wants to encourage that love of reading by now offering a choice of a book or a toy in Happy Meals.
You can now choose either a book or a toy when ordering a Happy Meal at any McDonald’s Canada location. Every eight weeks, two new books will be released in both English and French. All Happy Meal books are written by Canadian authors – check out some of the titles you can look forward to:
- Franklin the Turtle by Paulette Bourgeois
- Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt
- The Busy Beaver by Nicolas Oldland
- No Dragons For Tea by Jean E. Pendziwol
- Franklin’s Halloween by Paulette Bourgeois
- Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend by Melanie Watt
- Making the Moose Out of Life by Nicolas Oldland
- Once Upon a Dragon by Jean E. Pendziwol
- Scaredy Squirrel at Night by Melanie Watt
- Franklin’s Valentines by Paulette Bourgeois
- Big Bear Hug by Nicolas Oldland
- Franklin Plays the Game by Paulette Bourgeois
#OwnaBookGiveaBook Program:
In addition to the new Happy Meal books, McDonald’s Canada will also offer high-quality children’s books to Canada’s children in need with the #OwnaBookGiveaBook program and you can help by posting your “shelfie”.
In partnership with Kids Can Press, the world’s largest children’s book publisher, and First Book Canada, who provides access to new books for children in need, McDonald’s is helping to improve accessibility to books for children across the country and encourage families to spend more time reading together.
To participate, all you have to do is post a selfie-style picture of yourself by your bookshelf – a “shelfie” – on social media and use the hashtag #OwnaBookGiveaBook and McDonald’s Canada will donate a book to children in need (up to 20,000 books) through First Book Canada.
McDonald’s will also be installing Little Free Libraries at Ronald McDonald Houses across the country, where Canadians can leave a book and take a new one in return, making books more accessible for Canadian families. I know a few families who have stayed in a Ronald McDonald House and this program is a wonderful way to encourage that love of reading while enjoying those family snuggles that are so needed during those challenging times.
So let’s see those shelfies! Go snap a picture now and hop onto social media to share your photo along with the #OwnaBookGiveaBook hashtag. It only takes a few minutes to give a thoughtful gift to a child in need.
*Disclosure: I was compensated for this post; however, all opinions expressed here are my own.
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