COSTA MESA — With her baby next to her in a stroller, Lisa Morris stood on a stool in front of a first-grade class reading a picture book, "Pancakes, Pancakes!" by Eric Carle, about the trials of making the hearty breakfast food on a farm.
"This is hard work making pancakes, huh?" she asked the students.
Morris was one of nearly 20 volunteers who went into the classroom to read books Friday afternoon for the fourth annual Reading Celebration at Pomona Elementary School.
The day was the culmination of a year's worth of reading more than 26,280 books.
That translates to more than 55 million words — almost triple what the school read last year, said Martha Felix, the school's technology coordinator, who co-organized the event with second-grade teacher Summer Postiff.
Awards were also given out to the school's best readers, including sixth-grade student Sergio Reyna, who was the top reader.