Graduating from Manga

I've been studying Japanese for about four years, and I'm pretty good at speaking it. My reading, though, is a little behind the curve. I can handle the comic books, but I'm looking for some suggestions of books that will help me wean myself from the pictures.

I don't know if anyone will have any suggestions, but what I'm looking for is essentially quality children's literature in Japanese. If anyone grew up reading Japanese and has a childhood favorite to recommend, or if any learners like myself have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

She's not a children's author, but Banana Yoshimoto is supposed to be relatively easy to read. You could also try bilingual books intended for intermediate Japanese learners, like Read Real Japanese: All You Need to Enjoy Eight Contemporary Writers or Breaking into Japanese Literature. I'm lazy and haven't done much with either of those books, but they both look good.

Thanks for the suggestions! I've heard a lot of good things about Banana Yoshimoto, though I think she may still be a little beyond me. I'll look next time I'm in the bookstore, though. I'll look into those two textbooks, too, they sound like something I would benefit from.

Hm..Cant Help ya on That one bud but I guess go with reading and figuring it out yourself or just ask? ahah! Idk I wish I could speak japanese I can only speak a lil bit...like Konnichiwa wo genki desu ka? watashi namae Ethan desu! ^ ^

If you love cats, I recommend this book: http://www.librarything.nl/work/3408544/details/17875658
I don't think the text is very difficult to read, even though it's not a childrens' book. I could read it within the year of living in Japan.
You can also try to find Japanese translations of your favourite books. My favourite books are of the fantasy-genre and I bought some Japanese translations (haven't yet entered all my books into LT). I find them easily readable, but while I can understand almost all kanji appearing in story-books I don't know all kanji appearing in the newspaper... What are your favourite (English) books?