Read between the smile— A choice of a book or toy with your McDonald’s Happy Meals

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.

A book or toy with your McDonald’s Happy Meals Blog Ottawa Fashion Blogger

Growing up, my family didn’t have very much money, and my parents were very frugal. And as much as I was studious and loved books, I always wished I had more. I have this crazy story from my childhood that still saddens me until this very day, but it’s only fitting to share it with you. When I was in grade 5, I stole money from my sister and my parents and purchased a huge book order at school… so I could get called up in front of the class to claim my loot. For many reasons this was sad and bad. When my parents found out, my dad was furious and ripped up all the books I had purchased. I definitely learned my lesson… but… could we not have kept the books, though? Hahaha. I did manage to keep one book and gobbled it up every chance I had!

I raised my son Victor to love books, just as much as I did when I was a kid. Since birth, he always has a bookshelf filled with plenty of books in his play area. When I was pregnant, I started collecting some of my favourites and a few classics, knowing full-well that they would be part of my child’s daily routine. And every night before he goes to sleep, Victor gets read a bedtime story, en français or in English. It’s one of the few moments I get to spend real bonding time with him and my absolute favourite part of the day.

Fashion book Mitford at the Fashion Zoo Blog Ottawa Fashion Blogger

Fashion book Mitford at the Fashion Zoo Blog Ottawa Fashion Blogger Fashion book Mitford at the Fashion Zoo Blog Ottawa Fashion Blogger

When McDonald’s reached out to me about this initiative, I was thrilled to find out that Happy Meals were now being offered with a choice of a book or a toy, written by Canadian authors no less. I can’t wait to get my hands on the first book and help Victor grow his ever-increasing book collection! Every eight weeks, two new books will be available, in both English and French.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

You can assist McDonald’s Canada who hopes to help improve access to children’s books and ensure that everyone has the same chance to fall in love with reading.

For every Canadian who posts a photo of their bookshelf – a shelfie – on social media with the hashtag #OwnaBookGiveaBook, McDonald’s will donate a book to children in need 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.

This post was sponsored by McDonald’s Canada, but all views are my own.

A book or toy with your McDonald’s Happy Meals Blog Ottawa Fashion Blogger

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