McDonald’s India Includes Books in Happy Meals Instead of Toys

DNA India reports that McDonald’s India is swapping toys for books in their Happy Meals. Vice President of Business Operations for McDonald’s India, Ranjit Paliath, said:

It is interesting to note that while in the UK the average number of books owned by a child under 6 years is 6 books, in India the figure is only 3 books for every 100 children! We aim to distribute about 1 million books during the programme with the goal of helping support parents efforts to inculcate the habit of reading among kids from a young age.

McDonald’s is partnering with Scholastic and DK publishers to provide children with educational books about such topics as space, animals, and the human body.