In a bid to tackle the literacy gap, McDonald’s pledges to distribute 7 million books yearly, partnering with World Book Day to address the alarming statistic that 1 in 5 young children lack access to books at home
The stat has been brought to life by McDonald’s who today released an image of 50 children – 40 dressed as their favourite character from a book and 10 in plain clothes – highlighting the proportion who sadly don’t have access to books at home. Those wearing costume hold a copy of Mr Silly, the free book available at participating restaurants across the UK on March 7th, the charity World Book Day’s annual celebration of how reading for pleasure makes a difference to children’s lives.
As part of McDonald’s partnership with the charity, from now until the 26th March, Happy Meal® boxes also come with a FREE £1 World Book Day token that entitles families to a free World Book Day 2024 book or £1 off a book or audiobook at participating booksellers.
McDonald’s recognises the importance of children reading for pleasure – aligning with this year’s World Book Day campaign ‘Read Your Way’. New research by McDonald’s reveals just how important it is for children to have fun with reading, with 77% of parents saying it’s their child’s favourite activity to do with a family member.2
Reading isn’t just an enjoyable activity, over nine in ten (92%) agree that reading has helped develop their child’s creativity and imagination, with a similar proportion saying it has developed their memory (88%) and 85% their child’s empathy and social understanding.2
Parents continue to look for fun ways to get their kids excited about reading –, saying their child most enjoys when they put on different voices for the characters (57%), or when there are words that are thought to be naughty such as burp or fart (53%) and funny sounding words such as Oompa-Lumpa (50%).2
Louise Page, Head of Consumer Communications & Partnerships at McDonald’s UK said: “It’s harrowing to hear that so many young children still don’t have access to books at home, and it makes us more determined than ever to further our commitment by getting books into the hands of kids that need them the most. We’re proud to be the UK’s biggest distributor of books having provided over 160 million books to kids to date. Our mission is to ensure all children, no matter their background, can access the joy of reading.”
Cassie Chadderton, CEO of World Book Day adds: “At a time when the benefits of reading for pleasure are needed more than ever, we’re delighted to be working in partnership with McDonald’s to encourage even more children and families to give children a choice, and a chance, to enjoy reading. McDonald’s commitment to provide children with free books will support even more children and families to experience the life-changing benefits reading can bring.”
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