--- title: McDonald's to Serve Happy Meals With Books Instead of Toys description: Now through February 15 canonical: https://time.com/4206461/mcdonalds-happy-meals-books/ author: Samantha Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-03T19:00:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:44.370Z og:title: McDonald's Will Serve Happy Meals With Books Instead of Toys og:description: Now through Feb. 15 og:url: https://time.com/4206461/mcdonalds-happy-meals-books/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt368a8a835a3e9ea0/69887c020a4a2288449c8371/gettyimages-508078262.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: McDonald's Offers Japan Chocolate Fries While It Mulls Unit Sale og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: McDonald's Will Serve Happy Meals With Books Instead of Toys twitter:description: Now through Feb. 15 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt368a8a835a3e9ea0/69887c020a4a2288449c8371/gettyimages-508078262.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # McDonald's Will Serve Happy Meals With Books Instead of Toys > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=ec92a581-d0bf-4efc-b834-919d8a91c643&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Should I Eat French Fries? [Watch (HLS stream): Should I Eat French Fries?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kL7utfHP.m3u8) (2:30)  _Published 2015-06-10. A record number of experts weighed in on this one, and regretfully, 7 out of the total 9 give French fries a firm thumbs down._ by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Feb 3, 2016 7:00 PM UTC  An illuminated sign stands outside a McDonald's restaurant, operated by McDonald's Holdings Co. Japan Ltd., in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016\. In an effort to win back customers after a series of food scandals, including a human tooth in a serving of french fries, McDonalds Japan has come up with a surprise; white-and dark chocolate-covered french fries. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images An illuminated sign stands outside a McDonald's restaurant, operated by McDonald's Holdings Co. Japan Ltd., in Tokyo, Japan, on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016\. In an effort to win back customers after a series of food scandals, including a human tooth in a serving of french fries, McDonalds Japan has come up with a surprise; white-and dark chocolate-covered french fries. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Feb 3, 2016 7:00 PM UTC Trying to get your kids to read more? You might want to take them to McDonald’s, where they’ll get a book instead of a toy in their Happy Meals, now through Feb. 15\. Fair warning: you might want to tell them in advance, because they just might throw a fit when they find a paperback instead of a shiny plastic toy. According to[ the Los Angeles _Times_,](http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-mcdonalds-happy-meals-books-20160201-story.html) McDonald’s is including four different books in this experiment. Three of them are Valentine’s Day themed: _Clark the Shark Takes Heart_ by Bruce Hale and illustrated by Guy Francis, _Happy Valentine’s Day, Mouse!_ by Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond, and _Pete the Cat: Valentine’s Day Is Cool_ by Kimberly and James Dean. The fourth book is the classic [_Paddington_](http://time.com/3667559/paddington-bear-trivia/) by Michael Bond and illustrated by R. W. Alley. This is the third time the fast food chain has served miniature paperbacks instead of plastic toys in its Happy Meals. By the time this year’s giveaway is over, McDonald’s will have distributed 50 million children’s books. ## Transcript Should you eat French fries? A record number of experts weighed in on this one, and sadly seven out of nine of them gave French fries the firm thumbs down. [ MUSIC ] Jonathan Bonnet says they involve frying, salting and removing one of the healthiest parts of the potato. The skin, where many of the nutrients and fiber are found. It's a scary thought considering that french fries are the number one vegetable consumed by toddlers as young as 15 months. A medium order of fries as 365 calories. Calories. 17 grams of fat. 264 mg of sodium. And sometimes, even sugar & trans fat. When potatoes are made into fries they no longer have any nutritional redeeming values, says Kristin Kirkpatrick. What's more, french fries usually come with burgers, and both are often used as vehicles for sugar laced ketchup and fatty mayo, says David Katz. Let's face it. It's very hard to stop eating these things he says. One study found that foods high in fat and refine carbohydrates are likely to be addictive. On a much stranger note, french fries may mess with your eyes according to the work of Chung Jung Chiu. He found a link between foods popular in the western diet, including french fries, An age- related macular degeneration. All of which makes a compelling case for fries as a selective treat, says Alice Lichtenstein. Nearly half of the experts we talked to warned about the carcinogen acrylamide, a chemical that forms in some foods when they're cooked at high temperatures by frying, roasting, or baking. Even at low concentrations it accumulates over time and may contribute to diseases like cancer says Allal Ouhtit. You should limit your intake of french fries say Eric Morrissette, but eating them occasionally isn't likely to be a health concern. One way to cut down on the toxin is to cook fries for less time in good oil that hasn't been reheated says Vincenzo Fogliano. Steve Elmore agrees He's research acrylamide since 2002, but doesn't think there's enough to prove that it causes cancer in humans. For those of us with a french fry fetish, it's tough news to hear, but on the plus side, any food this bad for you must taste oh so good, a fact you'll savor when you'll sparingly treat yourself to a small order of fries. 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