Sparse code multiple access (SCMA) has been recently proposed for the future generation of wireless communication standards. SCMA system design involves specifying several parameters. To simplify the procedure, most works consider a multistage design approach. Two main stages are usually emphasized in these methods: 1) sparse signatures design (resource allocation) and 2) codebook design. In this letter, we present a novel SCMA codebook design method. The proposed method considers SCMA codebooks structured with an underlying vector space obtained from classical block codes. In particular, when using maximum distance separable (MDS) codes, our proposed design provides maximum signal-space diversity with a relatively small alphabet. The use of small alphabets also helps to maintain desired properties in the codebooks, such as low peak-to-average power ratio and low-complexity detection.