DANNY JONES & SON, COOPER, ENJOY FREE BOOKS FROM McDONALD’S TO CELEBRATE WORLD BOOK DAY®
02-27-2025
DANNY JONES & SON, COOPER, ENJOY FREE BOOKS FROM McDONALD’S TO CELEBRATE WORLD BOOK DAY®
- FREE copies of You Choose Your Adventure are available for families to collect at McDonald’s this World Book Day® (Thursday 6th March)
- The initiative is part of the company’s continued commitment to provide access to books for as many families as possible through its Happy Readers® programme.
- In partnership with charity World Book Day®, from now until the 23rd of March, Happy Meal® boxes also come with a FREE £1 World Book Day® token attached to them.
27th February 2025 – This World Book Day® (Thursday 6th March), families across the UK will be celebrating by diving into a day filled with shared reading adventures, from creating their own characters to discovering different stories, with King of the Jungle and Voice UK coach Danny Jones and his son, Cooper, among those joining in the fun.
Cooper and his dad, Danny, enjoying You Choose Your Adventure, available this World Book Day® at McDonald’s. This is part of the bestselling series by Pippa Goodhart and Nick Sharratt, which encourages creativity and boosts children's confidence by giving them the freedom to choose their own stories. More than three hundred thousand copies of You Choose Your Adventure are being given away at participating McDonald’s restaurants across the UK, marking the restaurant’s ongoing partnership with the charity World Book Day®.
According to new research by McDonald’s, parents believe that this kind of interactivity is key to increasing reading enjoyment, whether it's quizzing kids on the story, coming up with their own characters, or using dramatic narrator voices. New data revealed 53% of parents ask their child questions about the story and encourage them to make predictions, while 35% of parents inspire their kids' imaginations by encouraging them to come up with their own characters to be part of the story1.
If you missed out on the giveaway taking place on the 6th of March, you can also grab a You Choose Happy Meal® from now until 23rd March, which comes with a World Book Day® book token, enabling kids to select their free World Book Day® £1 book at participating booksellers, plus a You Choose activity journal or storybook.
Danny Jones, dad of Cooper, age seven, says: " Danny Jones, dad of Cooper, age seven, says "As a dad, I know how important it is to make reading an enjoyable and interactive experience, especially in a world full of distractions. My son, Cooper, and I love spending time together with books like You Choose, which allows him to create his own stories and characters. This initiative by McDonald’s and World Book Day® is amazing because it emphasises the joy of reading and makes it accessible for all families.”
McDonald’s remains committed to providing access to books for as many families as possible through its Happy Readers® programme. A programme through which it hopes this magical storytelling toolkit will allow children to create their own characters, discover different stories, and let their imaginations run wild.
McDonald’s recognises that there are many factors that can deter children from wanting to read. New research shows that 40% of parents say their children are deterred from reading because there are too many distractions, from YouTube to TikTok videos, and almost a fifth (19%) say a lack of access to a variety of genres is also a deterrent1.
When it comes to the most popular types of books children enjoy reading with their parents, fairy tales (44%), fantasy (41%), and animal fiction (37%) come out on top.
The new data also reveals the surprising ways British parents are trying to bring the fun back to reading for their kids – by thinking outside the box! Over half (51%) of parents use voices and sound effects when reading to their child (Gen Z parents do this more than any other generation (56% vs 43% of Gen X)), with the overly dramatic narrator role being the most popular voice used (38%). Parents are also more than happy to play the pirate (33%) but are less confident with cowboy drawls (3%)1.
Cassie Chadderton, CEO of World Book Day®, says: “At the heart of World Book Day® is the belief - backed by evidence - that children are more likely to read if they enjoy it and have a choice in what and how to read. Novels, comics, or one of our amazing £1 books – free in exchange for a World Book Day® token – can help unlock the power of reading. We’re excited to be working with McDonald’s again this year, to reach even more children and families, and to invite everyone to join the party and ‘Read Their Way’ this World Book Day®.”
McDonald’s Book Tour
To support the promotion, and bring some fun to families, McDonald’s is going on a You Choose book tour across 118 restaurants nationwide until 23rd March! There will be stages equipped with You Choose themed props, as well as brand ambassadors who will host and narrate stories. Families will be able to act out their favourite storylines, try out new character voices and grab a free copy of a You Choose book with a Happy Meal®.
World Book Day’s 2025 ‘Read Your Way’ campaign will encourage more children and young people to read for fun, because it seriously improves lives. To find out more visit worldbookday.com.
ENDS
PR Contact Details
Red Consultancy: McDonaldsWorldBookDay@redconsultancy.com
Research
1 Research conducted of 2,000 UK parents of children aged 4-11 by Mortar, February 2025.
About McDonald’s UK & Ireland
McDonald’s has been operating in the UK since 1974. The business currently operates more than 1,560 restaurants across the UK and Ireland, serving over three million customers each day. McDonald’s is one of the UK’s largest private sector employers, employing more than 159,000 people and works with over 29,000 British and Irish farmers.
World Book Day® £1 Book Token
McDonald’s is a proud supporter of World Book Day®. Those ordering a McDonald’s Happy Meal® will also receive a World Book Day® £1 book token to exchange for a FREE book at a participating retailer from 13 February – 23 March 2025. World Book Day’s £1 books are often the first book many children will own; in 2024, one in four children receiving Free School Meals said their £1 book was the first book of their own.*
About World Book Day®
World Book Day® is the reading for fun charity. We champion the fun of reading, because it seriously improves lives. Reading for fun is single biggest indicator that a child will grow up to enjoy a happier and more successful life - more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational backgrounds or their income. But here’s the challenge, it’s at an all-time low, with only 1 in 3 children now saying they enjoy reading. We believe children are more likely to read if they enjoy it, so we’re on a mission to encourage them to see reading as an entertaining, social and fun thing to do. We want more children to grow up with a life-long, life-changing habit of reading for fun, and all the benefits this brings. www.worldbookday.com
About You Choose
To date, over 2 million copies of the You Choose series, created by Pippa Goodhart and Nick Sharratt, and published by Puffin, have been sold worldwide since they first published over 20 years ago. Perfect for shared reading, and encouraging creativity across reading abilities, You Choose is a storytelling toolkit which will inspire even the youngest children to create their own fantastical stories again and again.