Thinking of trying to read my first ever Japanese book. Recommendations?

[fixelbrumpf]

I know my knowledge of kanji and grammar is still pretty poor, but I'd stil like to find out if I'm good enough to read a Japanese book. I have a pretty good dictionary, a decent kanji book, and this site (http://member.nifty.ne.jp/ComWin/grammar/bldverb/index.htm) will help me if I run into problems with verb forms.

So, what would book(s) would you recommend for a beginner? How about a good children's book? Thanks in advance.

[Haivart]

I'd probably suggest a bi-lingual book. There's a British publisher (Usbourne, I think) that publishes lots of bilingual kids books. I've also seen some nice folktale books published by another publisher. There may also be some stories online; and I believe someone else mentioned reading manga. I'll dig for some information; though I'm sure there are folks here who will have all sorts of good ideas.