Get Your Family Reading Together with Happy Meal Books from McDonald’s!
Keira loves reading time. I can get her to do just about anything by bribing her with a book. She also happens to love cheeseburger Happy Meals from McDonald’s, or as she calls it, “the fries house”. Kids across the country just like her are going to be thrilled that McDonald’s Canada has brought back Happy Meal Books just in time for Valentine’s Day. Awesome!
That’s right! Until February 15th, 2016, McDonald’s Canada, in partnership with HarperCollins, is giving millions of children nationwide access to books by replacing Happy Meal toys with four classic, Happy Meal-sized books!
The books are Valentine’s Day themed and also include removable Valentine’s cards inside. The books available with a purchase of a Happy Meal combo include:
Pete the Cat: Valentine’s Day is Cool by Kimberly Dean
Happy Valentine’s Day, Mouse! By Laura Numeroff
Clark the Shark Takes Heart by Bruce Halev
What I love about the Happy Meal Books is that the girls are so excited to read them. They are full versions of the story, but in a smaller sized format than the original books, which means they are really great quality and will be read over and over. I also love that the Happy Meal Books really encourages family time by providing some wonderful books for families to read together. What a truly valuable gift!
The fun with the Happy Meal Books continues at home through the McPlay App. Families can scan the back of the books to unlock a children’s interactive activity in two easy steps:
Step One: Download the McPlay App (Free Happy Meal App)
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/mcplay/id634672279?mt=8
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.happymeal.mcplay&hl=en
Step Two: Scan the Happy Meal Book logo on the back to unlock games that you can’t get anywhere else.
Families can also open an activity sheet available at http://www.happymeal.com/#Create and continue the fun!
Meet Ronald!
In honour of Valentine’s Day, McDonald’s is hosting book-reading events across Canada with characters like Ronald for families. We were able to attend the event in Hamilton yesterday at the McDonald’s location on Rymal Rd East.
There were fun crafts and activities going on in the party room for kids aged 3-8, but you could feel the excitement for Ronald and Pete the Cat’s visit! It was the perfect chance to pick up a couple of the limited edition Happy Meal Books for the girls along with one of their favourite treats.
Cheeseburger Happy Meals!
The restaurant was pretty busy, but the staff happily helped us find seats for the kids so they could sit and eat. We inadvertently ended up with the best seats in “the house” for the visit with Ronald and Pete!
Pete the Cat showed up at the restaurant first and provided the opportunity for kids to give him a hug and parents to snap a few photos.
While some kids were a bit shy of Pete, Keira was thrilled to meet him and gave him a great big hug.
Not long after, the star of the show arrived – Ronald! It took him awhile to arrive in the party room as many in the restaurant seemed eager to say hello and snap a photo. Once in the room though, many kids could hardly contain themselves, they were so excited to meet Ronald, and he was perfect!
Ronald read to us Pete the Cat: Valentine’s Day is Cool by Kimberly Dean and he had everyone’s attention – from the youngest child to the adults. It was a pretty magical event that made me feel I was a kid again.
Ronald was happy to give all the children a chance to have their photo taken with him. Talk about patient!
There are a few more events scheduled across Canada, and if you are able to, I would definitely recommend taking your family for Happy Meals and to meet Ronald. Keira, who is 4, has done nothing but talk about meeting Ronald and Pete ever since the event. We even had to call Grandma so she could tell her all about it! If you are able to make it to one of the events be sure to join the online conversation using #HappyMealBooks.
Character Event Schedule:
2330 Ottawa St., Port Coquitlam , BC on Feb. 13 with Ronald at 4:30 p.m.
7005-120th St., Delta, BC on Feb. 14 with Ronald at 12 p.m.
590 Martin Street, Milton, ON on Feb. 14 with Ronald at 1 p.m.
I’d love to hear what you think of the books, let me know!
Disclosure: This post has been sponsored by McDonald’s Canada, however all opinions are honest and my own.
I wish was available in my area,kids are too cute !
I will be on the lookout for those. They sound like great books.
This is so great that McDonald’s is doing this. Books are so great.
These look like great books. I will have to get them for my niece and nephew.
It’s so cool that the kids can go meet Ronald and listen to a story! They really do have great books too.
My girl adores books….Books in Happy meals is brilliant!!!
I support anything that gets kids reading. It is so important to stress the value of literacy to children.
This is a great idea replacing toys with books! I wish all McDonald’s stores would have this Happy Meal offer!
We went to McDonald’s last night and I wasn’t sure if they had the books here, but I was so excited when they did. My kids loved them so I think its a wonderful idea! So glad it’s here too!
What a fun idea to get the kids to read. I need to check if our McDonalds here have books, too.
It is so important to get kids into reading. I like that McDonald’s is including books with a happy meal. My kids used to love Paddington Bear stories.
What a cute selection of books. My son just got Clark the Shark in his Happy Meal the other day.
The Kids are looking so cute & all the pictures you have shared here are so beautiful as well. I love these books collection as well for my kids as it would motivate them to read more & get better knowledge as well.
My daughter is in Kindergarten and they read Pete the Cat books and she is so excited about this prize in her Happy Meal!
I wish they had these books at all locations