McDonald's is replacing Happy Meal toys for books in the UK, according to the National Literary Trust.

From today until February 7th, McDonald's will be handing out nine million copies of author Michael Morpurgo's Mudpuddle Farm series of books.

Morpurgo is best known for writing the book "War Horse," which was adapted into hit a Broadway play and also recently made into movie by Steven Spielberg.



Each book comes with a finger puppet, "to help parents bring the stories to life for their children" according to the National Literary Trust, who also cited a 2011 survey of theirs that showed that one in three children in the UK do not own a book.

However, not everyone is pleased with the offer. The Daily Mail newspaper quotes Charlie Powell, Campaigns Director of the Children's Food Campaign, saying: ‘At a time when we have a childhood obesity epidemic this is clearly an inappropriate marketing strategy."

What do you think? Let us know in the comments!