This month, the global fast-food company McDonald’s has been putting books instead of toys into their “Happy Meals.” By the end of this second and final week of the campaign, the company anticipates distributing over 20 million paperback books. The books aren’t copies of childhood favorites, however; they’re four different food-centered books commissioned by the McDonald’s corporation. On the other hand, books like “The Goat Who Ate Everything” might be just the thing to get kids into reading more. In addition, the four books (and their Spanish-language versions) are available on the company’s website, and more books will be added over the next year.

Making books more popular with children is definitely something to support and encourage, and it’s good to see an international corporation putting the power of its distribution and advertising behind the effort. There are an estimated 310,000 public libraries worldwide – almost 10 times more than the approximately 34,000 McDonald’s franchises. And yet it’s quite likely that the average child in North America, Australia, or Europe has gone to a McDonald’s (or at least through the drive-up window) more often this month than they have gone to the library. Making time to visit the library, even if it’s just once a week or twice a month to stock up on reading material, means that children will have good books at home to read at any time, and that will feed their hunger for reading and learning.

While many people have applauded the book-distribution campaign, other people have been a bit more skeptical, saying that this is just another advertising ploy to make fast food seem more healthy overall. There’s even a #mcbooks hashtag where people have been suggesting titles for future Happy Meals, like “Catcher in the Fry” and “Lord of the Fries.” Here at 7 Speed Reading, we’re happy to see anything that connects children and books, and we hope that once kids get a taste for reading along with their hamburger, they’ll be looking for more food for thought at their local library.