same here. I read good books growing up and so did my homeschooled kids.
There is very little that is good in new publishing and frankly Seuss started a trend to the ugly.
Besides being banal, not to mention mind numbingly stupid, the Dr. Suess books don't help a child to learn how to read, have a love books, nor develop a great vocabulary! But good children's books, do all of that, whether read by an adult to a child, or by the child him or herself.
Granted, some of the early Victorian stuff is kind of "heavy", even for a 9 year old, often full of religious preachiness, but late Victorian/Edwardian books for children are marvelous. And fairy tales are some of THE best things ever, for all children to know.