Great books or just phonics?

I have to admit to struggling with the conflicting demands of the phonics decoding check and wanting to get children to read great books. Of course there should be no conflict at all, but the problem is, testing such young children is going to create that conflict.
I've had the opportunity to observe quite a few guided reading lessons in my time and in schools where phonics is being taught well it is quite often at the expense of the language comprehension. Children are great at decoding but are not reading for meaning or enjoying the rich texts.
Some of the problem is what they are being asked to read. Most reading scheme books do not have extraordinary illustrations and a wide range of language. Take 'Pumpkin Soup' by Helen Cooper- look at the language she uses and the way the illustrations are part of the language. You just don't get that with reading schemes, particularly the latest ones which are all about phonics. Yes, children need to be taught phonics, but not at the expense of everything else.
My fear about the phonics check is that it will do exactly that; phonics will become the end goal instead of the means by which we teach children to read. In twenty years time none of the children will count Book 4 level 2 as their favourite childhood read (at least I hope not) and I would so much rather they had memories of reading wonderful stories.