McDonald's will be providing free books with each Happy Meal™ sold between now and 15th October. It's all part of their Happy Readers campaign, which is now in its sixth year and which aims to increase book ownership amongst children and encourages families to sit down and read together. Since the campaign's launch in 2013, McDonald's, working with the National Literacy Trust, has given away more than 70 million books, and they hope that this year's event will be bigger than ever. A survey by the Trust last year revealed that almost a fifth of British children aged 5 to 8 don't have any books of their own, and this campaign should go a long way to getting books into the hands of some of those children who most need them.
This year’s Happy Readers books feature stories from David Walliams's The World's Worst Children series, illustrated by Tony Ross and published by HarperCollins. The special editions available to collect as part of The Happy Meal promotion include Vain Valentine, Honey The Hogger, Stacey Superstar, Harry Who Never Ever Did His Homework, Miss Petula Perpetual- Motion and Competitive Colin.