German reading material for beginners

I'm a beginner German language student with Rocket Languages. Do you have recommended reading materials, such as newspapers, short stories, children's stories, for an adult learner?

Hi Harvey, There is a site http://www.dw.de/deutsch-lernen/nachrichten/s-8030 that has recordings of the news with written text. However, if you are an early beginner to German, you may find it too difficult. Amazon has dual language books both in young reader books as well as short stories and essays by noted German authors. Be aware that although they are advertised as "beginner" they are not all easy. Kant and Nietsche, for example, are difficult reading (at least for me) even in English. I've also been able to order some really basic German readers from Amazon but I felt kind of ripped off when I got them. I paid 20 bucks or so for something that wasn't much more than a comic book. I'm pretty sure if you browse for German children's stories you can find some.

Last Time in Atlanta GA and visiting the German Consul, I picked up a magazine called "Das Fenster". Subscriptions are through Das Fenster at 103 E. Meadow Dr., Athens, GA 30605. Rate in the US is $29.95/year / outside US is $43.00/year. Very interesting magazine.

I got a few German children's books for my Nook, but even they are still too difficult. Oh well, I guess I have to get through all the Rocket German lessons before I attempt that again!

Bikeophile, Nice bike and love your red hair; it runs in our family also. I also ride. My bike is a Yamaha Royal Star tour deluxe more commonly known as an RSTD. What is yours and how long have you been riding? Good to find a common interest. Maybe we can start practicing in German. I tried to enlarge the pic but can't. Is the bike a Harley?

This link has a lot of good stories for German children. Many of them are also common stories for English children, so that can help with guessing words instead of looking them up. http://www.labbe.de/lesekorb/

I picked up a German reader at a bookstore several years ago, copyright 1933. It’s written in the old script. I tell you, they don’t write children’s stories like this anymore. I’ll share one of my favorites about a lion, donkey, and fox who go hunting together. As you might expect, it doesn’t end well for the donkey, but there is a lesson to be learned. Der Löwe, der Esel, und der Fuchs Der Löwe, der Esel, und der Fuchs gehen zusammen durch den Wald und toten viele Tiere. Am Abend sagt der Löwe zu dem Esel: Ich bin hungrig. Teile. Gib jedem von uns seinen Teil. Der Esel teilt die Tiere in drei gleiche Teile und sagt dann: “Nimm deinen Teil, o König der Tiere”. Der Löwe sieht die drei gleichen Teile, springt auf den Esel und beißt ihn tot. Dann sagt er zu den Fuchs: “Nun Fuchslein, teile und gib jedem von uns seinen Teil.” Der Fuchs teilt und er teilt die Tiere nicht in zwei gleiche Teile, sondern er nimmt nur einen kleinen hasen für sich selbst und gibt dem Löwen alle die anderen Tiere. Der Löwe lacht und sagt: “Du weißt wie man teilt. Wer ist dein Lehrer, Fuchslein?” “Dieser alte, dumme, tote Esel ist mein Lehrer”, antwortet der Fuchs.

A cute story and a very smart fox ... thanks for posting that, Byron!

Thank you for the suggestions. Now to throw myself at the mercy of the material!

I know this thread is very stale, but I have found a couple short grown-up short stories by André Klein. A couple have audio that go with them so you're sure to pronounce properly. They can be bought on Amazon or the publisher's web site learnoutlive.com