McDonald's France Launches Storyteller School for Parents

McDonald's France launched its 'L'École des Raconteurs' (Storyteller School) initiative at the Théâtre du Renard in Paris on a Wednesday afternoon. The event, aimed at parents and content creators, introduced a series of free online tutorials designed to improve how adults read stories to children.

The theatre, a former 1920s music hall, was transformed with drawing tables, books from the McDonald's collection, and a stage dominated by a large yellow 'M'. The launch is an extension of the fast-food chain's long-running book program. Since 2015, with its 'A Toy or a Book' Happy Meal option, McDonald's France has distributed over 180 million children's books, according to its sales data up to December 2025. Last year, more than 30% of families chose the book over the toy.

A Launch Tailored for Influencers

Eloi de la Celle, Communications Director for McDonald's France, opened the event by explaining the rationale behind targeting parent influencers. We're counting on parent influencers who know how to address their community to tell them: reading is great, and there are tutorials that help with reading, with the right intonations, to interest children, he said, according to Livres Hebdo.

De la Celle, a father of two, described the genesis of the idea. He noted that parents often read mechanically, lacking the keys to use proper intonation, gaze, and pauses. The solution was to enlist a stage professional to create tutorials.

The Actor's Tutorial

Franco-Argentinian actor and director Oscar Sisto, a former Star Academy theatre teacher, leads the program. Four filmed lessons, created with the agency TBWA\Paris, were published on YouTube on September 16. They break down easy-to-reproduce theatre techniques for the home, covering intonation, silence, gaze, rhythm, and gesture.

During the launch, Sisto coached volunteering parents on stage. His feedback was direct. "It's not bad, but you can do better. Much better," he stated, later softening his tone to advise, "You must take your time. Breathe." He repeated a mantra: You have to help the child create their own images.

Sisto defended partnering with a fast-food chain. You have to trap the child. They come to eat, there are three balloons and a book, hey, there's a story. he told Livres Hebdo. Addressing skeptics, he added, I do this because the cause interests me. If it goes through McDonald's, I do it anyway.

Parents Seeking New Keys

Invited content creators in the audience expressed a common desire for guidance. A mother behind the Instagram account @babymamanon, who reads to her two daughters nightly, was intrigued by the theatrical approach. It can be interesting to have another approach, by acting, by illustrating the story a little, she said.

A father who runs the account @dad.and.shai attended to learn to slow down. Before, we wanted to finish the story, turn the pages quickly. he explained. His home library overflows with McDonald's titles. We have the whole collection at home. We also buy quite a few.

The current book collection, 'Un Monde à raconter' (A World to Tell), features 18 stories by bestselling novelist Agnès Martin-Lugand. Five titles were distributed at the event:

The Show Goes On the Road

The Paris event is just one part of the campaign. A 'bibliobus' (book bus), led by actress Mélanie Sitbon, will visit families in Reims on September 30, Aix-en-Provence on October 3, and Lorient on October 7. A 'Storyteller Season' will follow in restaurants from October 6 to 19. Since September 1, the 'Un Monde à raconter' collection has also been available in an audio version accessible via QR code.

McDonald's acknowledges the limits of measuring the program's real impact. We have visibility on the number of books purchased. What happens next at home, we have no way of knowing, conceded Eloi de la Celle. With the National Book Centre (CNL), a partner in the operation, itself noting a decline in reading among young people, McDonald's is betting on longevity. We've been doing this for ten years. We're not on a marketing stunt. he said. The coming months will reveal if the theatrical techniques find a lasting place in family homes.