Southern California Mcdonald's Restaurants Celebrate National Family Literacy Day With Launch Of New Happy Meal Books

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ In time for National Family Literacy Day, McDonald's is inviting families across the Southland to celebrate the joy of reading with the launch of a new Happy Meal Books promotion.

Today through Nov. 14, local McDonald's restaurants will offer books in print for Happy Meal customers. Throughout the two-week Happy Meal Books offer, families will be able to enjoy four original books featuring McDonald's Happy Meal characters. Each limited-edition book brings nutrition, imagination and play to life in a fun way. The four limited-edition books include:

• "The Goat Who Ate Everything" Tells a story of a goat who has a big appetite and struggles to eat right. But when he does, he feels great and becomes the playful 'kid' everyone loves.
• "Deana's Big Dreams" Shares how Deana, the world's smallest dinosaur, grew tall by eating right.
• "Ant, Can't" Features Ant, a bite-sized bodybuilder who's big on encouraging physical fitness through exercise and eating right.
• "Doddi the Dodo Goes to Orlando" Follows happy-go-lucky bird Doddi who travels the world. She eats right because this dodo is always on the go-go.

"It is shown that reading together helps build a stronger bond, contributes to strong communication skills and academic excellence in children," said Clay Paschen III, McDonald's owner/operator and president of the McDonald's Operators' Association of Southern California (MOASC). "We are excited to invite families to join us in this effort as a part of a broader book strategy that will combine the fun of the Happy Meal with new partners and technology to inspire more family reading time."

As part of the launch of Happy Meal Books, McDonald's is collaborating with Reading is Fundamental (RIF), the largest children's literacy non-profit in the U.S., to help more children and their families discover the joy of reading. RIF will distribute 100,000 Happy Meal Books to children who do not have easy access to books.

"Books are essential for inspiring children to explore, dream, and achieve, yet far too many children do not have this basic resource," said Reading is Fundamental CEO Carol Hampton Rasco. "To change this unfortunate reality, RIF is uniting with McDonald's, a company that embraces the transformative power of books and is committed to helping families and communities thrive. Together, McDonald's and RIF can truly help enrich kids' lives through access to books and by putting the fun back into reading."

Also starting on Nov. 1, McDonald's will give families anytime access to reading with a new interactive digital book each month through the end of 2014. The free interactive e-books will be available on McPlay, McDonald's Happy Meal App, and will allow kids to read, discover and explore exciting new worlds. McDonald's has partnered with DK Publishing, an award winning global publisher, to offer educational and entertaining content for customers the first e-book introduces DK's Amazing World Series, with "The World's Greatest Cities." Kids will also be able to engage with an interactive digital version of McDonald's Happy Meal print book, "The Goat Who Ate Everything" via the McPlay app.

The Happy Meal Books, as well as the DK Publishing e-books, will also be available for download at HappyMeal.com. Spanish versions of McDonald's Happy Meal Books will be available on McDonalds.com and MeEncanta.com.

McDonald's new Happy Meal Books are the company's latest action supporting a commitment to champion children's happiness and well-being by inspiring kids in a fun way to learn about nutrition, engage in active and imaginative play and develop a sense of community. The new books follow a number of enhancements McDonald's has made to the Happy Meal over in recent years including:

• McDonald's 2011 "Commitments to Offer Improved Nutrition Choices," to ensure 100% of McDonald's national kids' communications include a nutrition or active lifestyle message.
• Since 2012, the automatic inclusion of apple slices, a smaller kids-sized fry and the choice of a low-fat dairy option like 1% low-fat white milk or fat-free chocolate milk.
• Since 2010, a portion of proceeds from each Happy Meal sold goes to support Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) delivers free books and literacy resources to children and families in underserved communities in the United States. By giving children the opportunity to own a book, RIF inspires them to become lifelong readers and achieve their full potential. As the nation's largest children's literacy nonprofit, RIF has placed 410 million books in the hands of more than 39 million children since it was established in 1966. To learn more, visitRIF.org or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

MOASC is comprised of more than 600 franchised and company-owned McDonald's restaurants in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties. Visit us online at www.McDonaldsSoCal.com, or follow us on Twitter: @McDonalds_SoCal.

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