Lincoln Elementary third-grader Autumn Grosz read all 74 of the Caldecott Medal-winning books this spring after a discussion with her school librarian Dorothy Lamon.
The Caldecott Medal is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the illustrator of the best children's picture book. Lamon was trying to come up with ways to encourage children at the school to do more reading. Lamon thought it was too late in the year for the whole school to take up the challenge, but Autumn thought the Caldecott Medal books challenge was such a good idea that she did it on her own this spring.
Autumn said her favorite book is "Tuesday," by David Wiesner, published in 1992.
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Andrea Johnson/MDN - - Autumn Grosz, 9, who just finished the third grade at Lincoln Elementary, reads “Tuesday” by David Wiesner, one of the 74 Caldecott Medal-winners she read this spring.
"I just like the idea of frogs coming to life at night," said Autumn.
Another of her favorites was "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," by Brian Selznick, published in 2008.
"She said that one was a page-turner," said her mother Jennifer Grosz. Lamon has heard that a movie of "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" is in the works.
Fact Box
Caldecott Medal-winning books
Here is a list of all 74 Caldecott Medal-winners read by Lincoln Elementary School third-grader Autumn Grosz.
The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of 19th-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children:
2010: The Lion & the Mouse, illustrated and written by Jerry Pinkney
2009: The House in the Night, illustrated by Beth Krommes, written by Susan Marie Swanson
2008: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
2007: Flotsam by David Wiesner
2006: The Hello, Goodbye Window Illustrated by Chris Raschka, written by Norton Juster
2005: Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
2004: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein
2003: My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann
2002: The Three Pigs by David Wiesner (Clarion/Houghton Mifflin)
2001: So You Want to Be President? Illustrated by David Small; text by Judith St. George
2000: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat Simms Taback
1999: Snowflake Bentley, Illustrated by Mary Azarian; text by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
1998: Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky
1997: Golem by David Wisniewski
1996: Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann
1995: Smoky Night, illustrated by David Diaz; text: Eve Bunting
1994: Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say; text: edited by Walter Lorraine
1993: Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully
1992: Tuesday by David Wiesner
1991: Black and White by David Macaulay
1990: Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young
1989: Song and Dance Man, illustrated by Stephen Gammell; text: Karen Ackerman
1988: Owl Moon, illustrated by John Schoenherr; text: Jane Yolen
1987: Hey, Al, illustrated by Richard Egielski; text: Arthur Yorinks
1986: The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
1985: Saint George and the Dragon, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman; text: retold by Margaret Hodges
1984: The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot by Alice & Martin Provensen
1983: Shadow, translated and illustrated by Marcia Brown; original text in French: Blaise Cendrars
1982: Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg
1981: Fables by Arnold Lobel
1980: Ox-Cart Man, illustrated by Barbara Cooney; text: Donald Hall
1979: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble
1978: Noah's Ark by Peter Spier
1977: Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; text: Margaret Musgrove
1976: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; text: retold by Verna Aardema
1975: Arrow to the Sun by Gerald McDermott
1974: Duffy and the Devil, illustrated by Margot Zemach; retold by Harve Zemach
1973: The Funny Little Woman, illustrated by Blair Lent; text: retold by Arlene Mosel
1972: One Fine Day, retold and illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian
1971: A Story A Story, retold and illustrated by Gail E. Haley
1970: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
1969: The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, illustrated by Uri Shulevitz; text: retold by Arthur Ransome
1968: Drummer Hoff, illustrated by Ed Emberley; text: adapted by Barbara Emberley
1967: Sam, Bangs & Moonshine by Evaline Ness
1966: Always Room for One More, illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian; text: Sorche Nic Leodhas, pseud. [Leclair Alger]
1965: May I Bring a Friend? illustrated by Beni Montresor; text: Beatrice Schenk de Regniers
1964: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
1963: The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
1962: Once a Mouse, retold and illustrated by Marcia Brown
1961: Baboushka and the Three Kings, illustrated by Nicolas Sidjakov; text: Ruth Robbins
1960: Nine Days to Christmas, illustrated by Marie Hall Ets; text: Marie Hall Ets and Aurora Labastida
1959: Chanticleer and the Fox, illustrated by Barbara Cooney; text: adapted from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales by Barbara Cooney
1958: Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey
1957: A Tree Is Nice, illustrated by Marc Simont; text: Janice Udry
1956: Frog Went A-Courtin', illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky; text: retold by John Langstaff)
1955: Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper, illustrated by Marcia Brown; text: trans. from Charles Perrault by Marcia Brown
1954: Madeline's Rescue by Ludwig Bemelmans
1953: The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward
1952: Finders Keepers, illustrated by Nicolas, pseud. (Nicholas Mordvinoff); text: Will, pseud. [William Lipkind]
1951: The Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous
1950: Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi
1949: The Big Snow by Berta & Elmer Hader
1948: White Snow, Bright Snow, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin; text: Alvin Tresselt
1947: The Little Island, illustrated by Leonard Weisgard; text: Golden MacDonald, pseud. [Margaret Wise Brown]
1946: The Rooster Crows by Maud & Miska Petersham
1945: Prayer for a Child, illustrated by Elizabeth Orton Jones; text: Rachel Field
1944: Many Moons, illustrated by Louis Slobodkin; text: James Thurber
1943: The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
1942: Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
1941: They Were Strong and Good, by Robert Lawson
1940: Abraham Lincoln by Ingri & Edgar Parin d'Aulaire
1939: Mei Li by Thomas Handforth
1938: Animals of the Bible, A Picture Book, illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop; text: selected by Helen Dean Fish
Autumn didn't care for some of the other books she read, including 1964's "Where the Wild Things Are," by Maurice Sendak, but she read them all.
Since she was a third-grader, she was allowed to check out three books at a time. Autumn's parents, Jennifer and Shannan Grosz, got used to seeing her come home with a stack of books.
"I don't think it was even three months," Lamon said. "You were fast."
Autumn said she thinks the illustrations in the books add a lot to the reading experience.
Lamon said she thinks Autumn learned about history too, since some of the books were published in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s and some of the things depicted were unfamiliar to a child living in 2011.
Autumn, who said she enjoys reading, was recognized for her reading accomplishment during a school assembly on May 25 along with other children who won honors during the school year.
When school resumes in the fall, Lamon plans to challenge the entire school to read all of the Caldecott Medal-winners. She also plans to challenge children to read several of the Newbery Medal-winners.