McDonald’s USA celebrates National Literacy Month, inviting families to explore the wonder of Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous dinosaurs with first-ever non-fiction Happy Meal Readers

Latest Happy Meal Readers will add to the 74 million books McDonald’s USA has distributed to children since 2013 – enough to provide a book for every child across the country under the age of 12!

CHICAGO, August 28, 2020: To celebrate National Literacy Month and help parents and kids ease into an unconventional start to the school year, McDonald’s USA is inviting families to experience the joy of reading together with new dinosaur-themed Happy Meal Readers. These activity books were created in partnership with Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation as they launch the new animated, action-adventure series Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous on Netflix September 18.

Starting Tues., Sept.1, every Happy Meal at participating restaurants nationwide will include one of four non-fiction Happy Meal Readers. Families will become experts on these prehistoric beasts with fun facts and interactive pages in each activity book:

• Horned Dinosaurs: One thing you can say about Isla Nublar is that the dinosaurs with horns are the coolest. Check out Triceratops, Carnotaurus and Sinoceratops and see how they show off their impressive horns.
• Big Dinosaurs: Bigger than airplanes, longer than semi-trucks, these incredible giants take up a lot of space on Isla Nublar! Keep looking up and enjoy your visit with Brachiosaurus, Apatosaurus and Mosasaurus.
• Armored Dinosaurs: Get ready to experience a spike in the excitement level at Isla Nublar! Take a look at Ankylosaurus, Segosaurus and Stygimoloch, the amazing armored herbivores who sometimes used their armor to fend off vicious predators.
• Ferocious Dinosaurs: Hop aboard and let’s cruise over to Isla Nublar, where you can visit Tyrannosaurus Rex, Velociraptor and Baryonyx. With large, sharp teeth, powerful jaws and big claws, these carnivores were some of the deadliest creatures to ever walk the earth.

Happy Meal Readers will be available in English and Spanish through Sept. 15*, but the dinosaur fun at McDonald’s won’t go extinct then! Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous Happy Meal toys will be available at participating restaurants nationwide from Sept. 15 through Oct. 5*.

“Families are important to us, and we know they’re facing many challenges this year with ‘back to school’ feeling very different. That’s why we’re especially excited to give them a fun and educational way to spend time together with this year’s Happy Meal Readers program,” said JJ Healan, Vice President of U.S. Marketing, Brand Content and Engagement. “We’re proud and excited to work with Universal to help families experience the joy of reading together and create new memories with the Jurassic World franchise.”

Family togetherness is important during these uncertain times. Our Happy Meal Readers program was thoughtfully designed with families in mind, and we are excited to provide opportunities to gather and build a love for reading beyond the classroom with the latest activity books in Happy Meals and Digital Readers on the Happy Meal App. Since 2001, globally, McDonald’s and its franchisees have distributed close to 542 million books globally through Happy Meal Readers. In the U.S. alone, McDonald’s has distributed 74 million Happy Meal books – enough to provide a book for every child under 12 across the country**!

McDonald’ is also donating 100,000 books to its longtime partners at the nation's leading children's literacy organization, Reading Is Fundamental (RIF). This donation brings the total number of books the brand has donated to RIF since 2013 to over 500,000 as McDonald’s helps to support their mission to allow every child to experience the life-changing power of literacy.

"Reading ignites imaginations and opens a world of possibilities for children," said Alicia Levi, President & CEO at Reading Is Fundamental."We’re grateful for McDonald’s partnership as it helps enable us to foster a love of reading and provide books to families who need them most, which is more important than ever before.”

In addition to our Happy Meal Readers initiatives, McDonald’s remains committed to offering balanced choices that parents can feel good about feeding their families.

• In 2018, we added five new global Happy Meal goals to our 2013 initiative with Alliance for a Healthier Generation that we are working to meet by 2022.
• Over the years, McDonald’s has evolved the options available in its Happy Meal by offering kids choices like apple slices, 1% low-fat white and reduced sugar low-fat chocolate milk jugs, and Honest Kids Appley Ever After Organic Juice drink.
• We’ve continued to add new offerings and make changes to core items like removing artificial preservatives from our Chicken McNuggets. We’ve also made changes to the hamburger, which no longer contains artificial preservatives, artificial flavors or added colors from artificial sources. The pickle contains an artificial preservative, which customers can skip if they like.

For more information about Happy Meal Readers, visit www.McDonald's.com

*While supplies last

** Based on US census data projections for 2020 – 74 million children ages 0-12.”

About McDonald’s USA
McDonald’s serves a variety of menu options made with quality ingredients to more than 25 million customers every day. Ninety-five percent of McDonald’s 14,000 U.S. restaurants are independently owned and operated by business men and women. For more information, visit www.mcdonalds.com, or follow us on Twitter @McDonalds and Facebook at www.facebook.com/mcdonalds

About Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous
Set against the timeline of the 2015 blockbuster film Jurassic World, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous follows a group of six teenagers chosen for a once-in-a-lifetime experience at a new adventure camp on the opposite side of Isla Nublar.  When dinosaurs wreak havoc across the island, the campers are unable to reach the outside world and will quickly go from strangers to friends to family as they band together to survive. The series is executive produced by Scott Kreamer and Aaron Hammersley who serve as showrunners. Steven Spielberg, Colin Trevorrow and Frank Marshall serve as executive producers.

About Reading Is Fundamental
Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) is committed to a literate America by inspiring a passion for reading among all children, providing quality content to create impact, and engaging communities in the solution to give every child the fundamentals for success. As the nation's largest nonprofit organization for children's literacy, RIF has provided more than 420 million books and literacy resources to 72 million kids in all 50 states, inspiring generations to read, learn and grow. For more information visit: RIF.org/about