Children’s book club ‘pays it forward’ by donating books

Mrs. Fales Book Club, a Newport Beach-based group formed in 2004 for young readers, has made good on a year-old promise to help spread literacy to other children in the community, donating $500 worth of books to kindergarten through third-grade students at Wilson, Whittier and Pomona elementary schools.

In 2006, the book club, composed of elementary school-age kids, raised $1,500 to bring children’s author Kate Klise to town for a meeting, but she waived her usual speaker’s fee, asking the members to “pay it forward” by helping children with fewer resources.

Book club members recently joined representatives from Newport-Mesa Rotary clubs and several community members to present Whittier students with about 900 books as part of Reading by 9, a Los Angeles Times-sponsored literacy program.

— Jessie Brunner