What's on your kids' reading list after Harry Potter?

I know the Harry Potter phenomenon has run through the news cycle by now, but in our house we are still really feeling the effects of Life After Harry. What can my ravenous 8-year-old reader turn to next? We still like to read books aloud together in addition to her independent reading, so I am on the lookout for good books we can both enjoy.

Common Sense Media put out a very helpful list on this topic, featuring fantasy recommendations, with age-appropriateness guidelines, for 8 to 12 year olds.

In our house, my daughter is grooving on:

Multiple reads through The Spiderwick Chronicles. These are good to get from the library because they are rather expensive in hardcover for such short books.

The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. The first title is The Lightning Thief.

She also loves the trailer for the upcoming movie version of The Golden Compass. I think the film will be interesting for her. I read the His Dark Materials trilogy by myself this summer and recommend the first book for ages 10 and up, and the second and third books for ages 12 and up. Very theological, philosophical, intense. It reads as a grown up book to me that happens to feature kids as main characters.

We both really enjoyed The City of Ember, which from the cover I incorrectly thought was for an older audience. But it's very appropriate for 8 year olds, and is a simpler story and easier reading than Harry Potter. I give the Book of Ember 4 stars, The People of Sparks 3 stars, and The Prophet of Yonwood a big ????? I am halfway through it and not sure I'll even finish it. It is a very disappointing third volume "prequel" that doesn't do the series justice.

My daughter did read all the Harry Potter books but by the end I was really wishing she'd waited until she was 10 years old. The last couple were too intense. My comfort there is that I do believe that when reading, kids bring to it what they can understand.

Oldies but goodies: I have enjoyed reading the first two Little House on the Prairie books with her, but she's not that interested in more right now. The funny thing is that reading those books from a Mom's point of view you realize just how many times the Ingalls family narrowly avoids being maimed or killed. The prose is so matter of fact that it's not sensationalized, but the facts are there about how risky their pioneer lifestyle was.

I asked my daughter for her additional opinion on reading recommendations and she reminded me that she'd like to co-author a fantasy book with me. I got my start as a writer of young adult fiction with my book High Water so that's a distinct possibility. Stay tuned on that one!

What are the favorite books in your home? Books you enjoyed as a kid that you are sharing with your family? New books that you are surprised to like as much as your children do?

Great "Harry Potter" Link

For all the families full of Harry Potter fans out there, once you have FINISHED the final book, you'll want to check out the Today Show conversation between Meredith Viera and J. K. Rowling. (It's a spoileriffic 3-parter that began this morning, so record it for later if you have to.)

Today/MSNBC.com also has an article detailing information that was cut from the book about the long-term fates of many of the characters.

I love knowing that Jo Rowling has much more in her head than she could include in the novels--and that she is willing to continue sharing that information even after the series is complete. She is reportedly going to come out with a Harry Potter Encyclopedia that gets the entire world and story down on the page. I hope she takes a well-deserved break first!