Summary:

The book is a biography/informational text that explores the life of the Pfitzner family from Germany. The book offers geographical information about Germany as well as personal information looking at the culture, customs and life of the Pfitzner family. The Pfitzner family is an average Germany family that has a household size of four people that consists of a father and mother with two young sons. They live in a two bedroom apartment in the town of Cologne, very close to the grandparents. The book goes on to tell about the family’s home, life, food customs, work life, school, and pastimes. This book explores their life at home, work, in school, in the community and in their future.

Comments (opinions/arguments):

This book offers so much information on family life in Germany. It also gives a lot of geographical information on the town and different areas of Germany. I really loved all of the wonderful real life pictures that were incorporated to really give the reader a sense of what life is like for the average German family. I think this book is great for children to learn about different families and cultures around the world. This book could be seen as both a biography and informational text because it tells a story about a real family, but also offers a lot of information on Germany and its culture. I really like that the book has an introduction on Germany and a separate introduction on the Pfitzner family. It also offers a table of contents because each page covers a different topic of interest. It also incorporates a glossary of terms that are related to German culture. I think this is great because some children might not know what some terms mean. The glossary can help students become familiar with new words that pertain to this culture. It also has a pronunciation guide to help students pronounce German related words used throughout the text. Overall this book is a great resource for learning about culture and families in Germany. ( )