doubtfulguest, I can sympathize. In the last week or so, DD has begun complaining about picture books in general but I'm not ready for her to be over picture books quite yet. We're currently working through Elsa Beskow books and she hasn't complained about those. She's still on a fairytale phase so at least for my DD, if the theme interests her and artwork is good, she's willing to read "short" picture books.
SO and I are having a HP debate right now. He who didn't want DD to read Swimmy when she was 2 (he said the book starts with a massacre and she didn't have to know about food chain just then) thinks I'm being unfair by withholding HP since DD now can clearly distinguish fiction from reality and has no problem processing fairytales which are often just as violent as HP but he's never read HP and that has been the end of our argument thus far. I told him before we can actually discuss it, he had to read the first few books cover to cover.
Right now, my policy is to find children's literature that I would enjoy reading myself. Since I didn't start reading in English until I was 14 (and didn't crack the code until I was 19 thanks to stealth dyslexia), I have never read The Wonderful Wizard of the Oz, C.S. Lewis, or Dahl. I'm on the fence about Neverland for DD so that's on my list of pre-reading list. It's been fun filling my own gaps and DD and I love getting audio recordings of these classics from the library and read along together. I think DD is getting acting tips from the professional actors. I hear her imitating their inflections and accent.
It's so hard to find the right answer for these children but I have to trust my instinct and be willing to override her father who is giving her too much credit for her emotional maturity.
