Good Stories for Language Learners of German

BASIC INFO	LANGUAGE LEVEL	COMPREHENSION-AIDING FEATURES
Book Title Good Stories for Language Learners of German Author Michael Peto Illustrator Michael Peto Other Contributors German translation by Ben Fisher Genre Comedy Publication date 2021 by My Generation of Polyglots #Ownvoices Unspecified This book is also published in Spanish and French.	From the author/publisher Level 1 & 2 Total Word Count not provided	Illustrations YES Glossary YES Guiding Questions YES Context NO Other

IDENTITIES PRESENT IN THE TEXT		SYNOPSIS
Races, Ethnicities, and Nationalities Languages spoken German Sex and Genders Female Male Ages Child: 0-6 Child: 6-12 Teenager: 13-18 Young Adult: 18-35 Mid-life Adult: 35-65 Senior Adult: 65+ * Because of the short story format, there are a wide variety of ages referenced. Social classes No social classes are made apparent in the stories.	Sexual Orientation Heterosexual (Dis)Abilities and Neurotypes None mentioned Religions, Syncretism, and Spirituality None mentioned Relationship and Family Structures Heteroparental Body Descriptions “Er war ein kleiner Mann und ein bisschen dick…” / He was a small man and a little fat (192).	From the author/publisher “Good Stories contains 19 short stories (233 pages, not including the glossary) designed for level 1 & 2 students. All stories include a Word Wall for oral retells, large font for easy reading, illustrations of an ethnically diverse cast of characters speaking German for teacher-led Picture Talks, margin notes of less frequent vocabulary, a complete glossary of every word in the book, and most stories contain comprehension questions for class discussion. “This book is designed to be read aloud along with lower level students: discuss the pictures in German, ask questions about the pictures and text as you read, ask questions about your students’ lives as you read and connect the text to real life. Enjoy the reading experience. Every two weeks pull out a new read-aloud story. The stories progressively become more complex over the course of the year. Between stories, fill your class with student interviews, picture talks, movie talks, One Word Images, book talks, card talks, and cultural presentations. By the end of the year your students will have developed the literacy skills to read these stories on their own.”

ILLUSTRATIONS	STORY	SOCIAL JUSTICE
To what extent do the illustrations present positive and thoughtful representations of identities? Illustrations include a variety of skin tones and hair textures. There is diversity in body size, but most characters are slim. Some illustrations are exaggerated for comedic effect.	We understand identities are complex and no single story represents the spectrum of identity-based experiences. Also, a text may address a stereotype, misrepresentation, or generalization without relying on it. *Does any stereotype, misrepresentation, or generalization affect any positive and thoughtful representations of identities in the text?* No	This section is for teachers who are working towards sourcing more texts within the four domains of anti-bias education. We are excited about reading all books and we understand that not all books are written for this specific purpose. *Does this text work toward goals within any of the* four domains of anti-bias education as defined by Learning for Justice? No

LLLAB’s REVIEW
Good Stories for Language Learners of German is a collection of silly stories to be read aloud with students learning German in their first and second year of study. The author, Michael Peto, suggests reading these stories over the course of the school year, two weeks apart from each other. Each story is accompanied by a word cloud to help students retell the story, reading comprehension questions, and writing prompts. A glossary at the end of the book, as well as on-page translations, aids the students in comprehension. Peto also recommends pairing the stories with other strategies like movie talks and student interviews. *“Karls Mutter ist verrückt” / Karl’s mother is crazy* (pp. 16-23)** This story follows Karl and two adults in his life: his mother and his German teacher. Karl’s mother always tells him “no”, so Karl comes to the conclusion that his mother is “crazy”: “Karl kennt die Wahrheit: seine Mutter ist verrückt!” / Karl knows the truth: his mother is crazy! (p. 20). The German teacher acts as the opposite, always saying “yes.” Teachers may wish to discuss that the word “verrückt” / crazy has connotations that the mother may be mentally ill or that there may be something wrong with her. *“Die Socken” / The Socks* (pp. 65-71)** In this story, a boy is looking for his special socks in the room of a girl. The girl enters the room as he is looking in her dresser. “Warum hast du meine Unterwäsche?” / Why do you have my underwear? (p. 70). The girl calls him “Abartiger” / pervert and, as a result, the boy is banned from summer camp. “Tom und ich wurden vom Sommerlager verbannt” / Tom and I were banned from summer camp (p. 71). Teachers may wish to discuss personal boundaries and name-calling. *“Er ist ein guter Vater” / He is a good father* (pp. 125-136)** In this story, a girl wants to own her own car since she is tired of taking the school bus. Her father is, at first, unwilling to purchase a car because he does not want to pollute the environment. However, as the story continues, he decides to sell his legs so that he can buy a car for his daughter: “Ich will ein guter Vater sein, also habe ich meine Beine verkauft, um das Auto zu kaufen. Er hat keine Beine” / I want to be a good father, so I sold my legs to buy a car. He has no legs (130). This story uses physical disability, trauma, and poverty as means of comedy. *“Peter will nicht mehr Kuchen essen” / Peter does not want to eat any more cake* (pp. 150-155)** In this story, a teacher forces his students to eat multiple servings of cake: “Der Lehrer gab ihm [Peter] drei Schokoladenkuchen” / The teacher gave him three chocolate cakes (p. 152) and “Für Tanja Twingletongue ist es schlimmer: der Lehrer hat ihr acht Kuchen gegeben” / For Tanja Twingletongues, it’s even worse: the teacher gave her eight cakes (p. 153). After having eaten almost all of the cakes, Peter is forced to continue to eat until he vomits and Tanja ends up with a stomach ache. Tanja continues to eat the cakes. She tells the school nurse that she “did not want to be a bad girl” (p. 154). Teachers may wish to point out that the teacher character has coerced a student into disordered eating behavior. Teachers may also wish to interrogate with students the notions of “good girl” and “bad girl,” especially when articulated by a male authority figure. *“Meine Eltern machen sich lächerlich” / My parents make fools of themselves* (pp. 216-227)** In this story, the parents embarrass the main character, Tony, in increasingly extreme ways: They eat with their toes at a restaurant: “Sie aßen mit den Zehen” / They ate with their toes (p. 220). The parents also start a water fight with water guns in the airport: “…spielten seine Eltern mit Wasserpistolen. Im Flughafen starteten sie einen Wasserkrieg” / …the parents played with water guns. They started a water war in the airport (p. 223). Someone takes a picture of the water war. “Unter dem Foto stand das Wort ‘Terroristen’” / Under the photo was the word ‘terrorist’ (p. 224). Teachers may wish to prepare to facilitate discussions on the complexities of terrorism, including its racialized constructions, while also addressing potential racist interpretations or comments arising from such portrayals. Teachers may also wish to discuss the racial privileges involved in being able to use items such as toy guns in public, since BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) have lost their lives when police and bystanders mistook harmless items they were carrying for dangerous weapons. Throughout the book, the author includes dedications to former students who inspired the stories. Many of these dedications include references to students’ romantic relationships. “Eine berühmte Freundin” (pp. 85-91) is dedicated in English to Trenton, “…whose home-school girlfriend was famous for sending pictures of herself at the beach while we were in class” (p. 85). This dedication is next to an illustration of a young woman in a bathing suit. It is not clear whether “Trenton,” his girlfriend, or any other student gave consent to have their stories included in a book. Teachers might wish to consider the power dynamics involved when a teacher-author makes public references to his students’ romantic relationships.

LLLAB’s REVIEW

Good Stories for Language Learners of German is a collection of silly stories to be read aloud with students learning German in their first and second year of study. The author, Michael Peto, suggests reading these stories over the course of the school year, two weeks apart from each other. Each story is accompanied by a word cloud to help students retell the story, reading comprehension questions, and writing prompts. A glossary at the end of the book, as well as on-page translations, aids the students in comprehension. Peto also recommends pairing the stories with other strategies like movie talks and student interviews.

“Karls Mutter ist verrückt” / Karl’s mother is crazy (pp. 16-23)
This story follows Karl and two adults in his life: his mother and his German teacher. Karl’s mother always tells him “no”, so Karl comes to the conclusion that his mother is “crazy”: “Karl kennt die Wahrheit: seine Mutter ist verrückt!” / Karl knows the truth: his mother is crazy! (p. 20). The German teacher acts as the opposite, always saying “yes.” Teachers may wish to discuss that the word “verrückt” / crazy has connotations that the mother may be mentally ill or that there may be something wrong with her.

“Die Socken” / The Socks (pp. 65-71)
In this story, a boy is looking for his special socks in the room of a girl. The girl enters the room as he is looking in her dresser. “Warum hast du meine Unterwäsche?” / Why do you have my underwear? (p. 70). The girl calls him “Abartiger” / pervert and, as a result, the boy is banned from summer camp. “Tom und ich wurden vom Sommerlager verbannt” / Tom and I were banned from summer camp (p. 71). Teachers may wish to discuss personal boundaries and name-calling.

“Er ist ein guter Vater” / He is a good father (pp. 125-136)
In this story, a girl wants to own her own car since she is tired of taking the school bus. Her father is, at first, unwilling to purchase a car because he does not want to pollute the environment. However, as the story continues, he decides to sell his legs so that he can buy a car for his daughter: “Ich will ein guter Vater sein, also habe ich meine Beine verkauft, um das Auto zu kaufen. Er hat keine Beine” / I want to be a good father, so I sold my legs to buy a car. He has no legs (130). This story uses physical disability, trauma, and poverty as means of comedy.

“Peter will nicht mehr Kuchen essen” / Peter does not want to eat any more cake (pp. 150-155)
In this story, a teacher forces his students to eat multiple servings of cake: “Der Lehrer gab ihm [Peter] drei Schokoladenkuchen” / The teacher gave him three chocolate cakes (p. 152) and “Für Tanja Twingletongue ist es schlimmer: der Lehrer hat ihr acht Kuchen gegeben” / For Tanja Twingletongues, it’s even worse: the teacher gave her eight cakes (p. 153). After having eaten almost all of the cakes, Peter is forced to continue to eat until he vomits and Tanja ends up with a stomach ache. Tanja continues to eat the cakes. She tells the school nurse that she “did not want to be a bad girl” (p. 154). Teachers may wish to point out that the teacher character has coerced a student into disordered eating behavior. Teachers may also wish to interrogate with students the notions of “good girl” and “bad girl,” especially when articulated by a male authority figure.

“Meine Eltern machen sich lächerlich” / My parents make fools of themselves (pp. 216-227)
In this story, the parents embarrass the main character, Tony, in increasingly extreme ways: They eat with their toes at a restaurant: “Sie aßen mit den Zehen” / They ate with their toes (p. 220). The parents also start a water fight with water guns in the airport: “…spielten seine Eltern mit Wasserpistolen. Im Flughafen starteten sie einen Wasserkrieg” / …the parents played with water guns. They started a water war in the airport (p. 223). Someone takes a picture of the water war. “Unter dem Foto stand das Wort ‘Terroristen’” / Under the photo was the word ‘terrorist’ (p. 224). Teachers may wish to prepare to facilitate discussions on the complexities of terrorism, including its racialized constructions, while also addressing potential racist interpretations or comments arising from such portrayals. Teachers may also wish to discuss the racial privileges involved in being able to use items such as toy guns in public, since BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) have lost their lives when police and bystanders mistook harmless items they were carrying for dangerous weapons.

Throughout the book, the author includes dedications to former students who inspired the stories. Many of these dedications include references to students’ romantic relationships. “Eine berühmte Freundin” (pp. 85-91) is dedicated in English to Trenton, “…whose home-school girlfriend was famous for sending pictures of herself at the beach while we were in class” (p. 85). This dedication is next to an illustration of a young woman in a bathing suit. It is not clear whether “Trenton,” his girlfriend, or any other student gave consent to have their stories included in a book. Teachers might wish to consider the power dynamics involved when a teacher-author makes public references to his students’ romantic relationships.

Share this:

Related

Leave a comment Cancel reply