Since families could not get to storytime, we brought storytime to them – virtually
April 23, 2020
Thandi M | English Teacher | South Africa
As a teacher, I was so excited to have the opportunity to reconnect to families and share my joy of reading with them. I have missed seeing and reading to my students each day.
With schools closed, we missed storytime. So we brought it back for the whole country.
Story time is our favorite time of the day. Reading some much loved books to a class of eager children, passing on the classics or discovering something new, reminds us how important books are. It's that love of stories that inspires the Happy Meal Readers program.
The program started in 2001, when McDonald's Sweden began making children's books part of their Happy Meal bundle. Since then, it's become one of McDonald’s most beloved offerings around the world.
When schools closed here in South Africa, and children across the country missed their daily storytime, our reimagined, virtual Happy Meal Readers program helped fill the gap by hosting live streams of incredible teachers from across the country reading great books for kids of all ages.
Children could tune in from anywhere and hear a great story, wonderfully told, and just like these incredible teachers that made a fun virtual reading experience come to life, we hope we can help inspire a lifelong love of reading for kids.