I think the kids are more likely to gravitate toward lighter more modern stuff when reading on their own (though my oldest just finished the entire Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, definitely not light reading. He really loves comics though, and Nausicaa is his favorite movie.)

But on the other hand I'm kinda shocked at how few of their friends are even remotely interested in books in general, so it's not like they go to school and talk about Abel's Island instead of Minecraft or whatever the hell game they're into today. Mostly when I hear abotu what other kids are reading, it's because it's something popular (Harry Potter, a few tried The Hobbit back when the first movie came out, etc.) And some of the teachers, when I talk about the kinds of things my kids like to read, just get blank looks on their faces.

One of the things I like to do is compare the same story as told in various mediums... typically I like to read or listen to the book first, then watch the movie or movies, but it doesn't always work that way.

But yeah, we've had good success with
-all the age-appropriate Roald Dahl books
-Shel Silverstein books/poetry (my daughter was very disappointed I refused to get her Uncle Shelby's ABZs)
-The Borrowers (though we only read the first volume, after seeing The Secret World of Arietty)
-Abel's Island
-Stuart Little
-The Mouse & the Motorcycle
-The Wind in the Willows
-The Incredible Journey
-the Beezus & Ramona books (Beverly Cleary)
-Mr. Popper's Penguins
-Currently working through the Mary Poppins books for bedtime reading
-Currently working through the Narnia audiobooks in the car


Couple I'd never read as a kid that went over well:
-Bedknob & Broomstick
-Freddie the Detective
-My Father's Dragon


Modern classics:
-A Series of Unfortunate Events (I'd consider them a modern classic; I'd recommend the audiobooks,mostly narrated by Tim Curry, and phenomenal. But even the books are okay, and Snicket's got a new spinoff series out called 'The wrong Questions' which we're reading and which gives me a chance to practice my noir voice. Great stuff. And the companion record ain't bad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5RocvYrpmI)
-Neil Gaiman books (Coraline is fantastic. The Graveyard Book was great but my oldest got scared and asked me to stop.)
-Howl's Moving Castle (in conjunction with the movie, again)
-They love the Cornelia Funke books, but I'm not a particularly big fan
-Kate DiCamillo books: we haven't read them all but we've loved the ones we have, from the kiddy books up through the novels.
-Holes

We haven't read any Avi books but our librarian loves him and has recommended him to us.

Looking very forward to reading both the Lloyd Alexander books and the Susan Cooper books before too long since the kids love fantasy. I tried audiobooks of each a while ago, and the narrator on the Cooper books was too dry. The Alexander books went over well but the idea of the Cauldron-born scared the shit out of the kids even though zombies are everywhere in kids' games and whatnot.
Also Harry Potter... haven't read those to them yet b/c the oldest does get scared. Maybe another year or two.