The Winter 2003/2004 Children's Book Sense 76 Top Ten

This week, we are announcing the top ten picks for the Winter 2003/2004 Children's Book Sense 76, based on the nominations of independent booksellers nationwide. Book Sense 76 Editor-in-Chief Dan Cullen sends many, many thanks to all the booksellers who nominated titles. He notes, too, that all nominations are crucial. Many factors come into play in selecting the quote that is printed in the full 76, but those that are not published play a very important role in composing the entire list.

The full Children's Book Sense 76 -- with booksellers' quotes -- will be in next week's Bookselling This Week.

Please do keep those nominations coming! The next key deadline is November 21 for the January/February 2004 Book Sense 76.

E-mail your nominations for future 76s to Dan Cullen at dan@booksense.com, or go to www.bookweb.org/read/4264 for an online nomination form.

1. DIARY OF A WORM, by Doreen Cronin, Harry Bliss (Illus.) (Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins, $15.99, 006000150X)

2. DIARY OF A WOMBAT, by Jackie French, Bruce Whatley (Illus.) (Clarion Books, $14, 0618381368)

3. OLD TURTLE AND THE BROKEN TRUTH, by Douglas Wood, Jon J. Muth (Illus.) (Scholastic, $17.95, 0439321093)

4. PIRATES!, by Celia Rees (Bloomsbury, $16.95, 1582348162)

5. SKIPPYJON JONES, by Judy Schachner (Dutton, $15.99, 0525471340)

6. THE CONCH BEARER, by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (Millbrook Press, $16.95, 0761319352)

7. WOOLEYCAT'S MUSICAL THEATER (Book with Audio CD), by Dennis Joe Hysom, Christine Walker (Illus.) (Tortuga Press, $18.95, 1889910252)

8. FAULT LINE: A Novel, by Janet Tashjian (Holt Books for Young Readers, $16.95, 0805072004)

9. SNOW MUSIC, by Lynne Rae Perkins (Greenwillow, $15.99, 0066239567)

10. HOW I BECAME A PIRATE, by Melinda Long, David Shannon (Illus.) (Harcourt Children's Books, $16, 0152018484)