Introduction: Modern Germany. Beyond the stereotype ; A short historical update ; The culture of control ; Why German parenting matters

1. Leaving America. A cold arrival ; Everything in order

2. Berlin babies. Where midwives rule ; The American disadvantage ; A Berlin birth

3. Attachment problems. German parents and attachment theory ; Independent infants ; Mother knows best?

4. Small children, small worries (Kleine kinder, kleine sorgen). The kindergarten east-west legacy ; Early kita skills ; Quality of care ; Child-care benefits

5. The democratic kindergarten. Faster or better learning ; Children in charge ; Discipline ; Kita trips ; Teaching kita skills in the United States

6. Starting school. Play school ; Educational priorities ; Homework, food, and protest

7. No bad weather. America inside ; Germans and free nature ; Taking away the toys

8. The freedom to move. Why German children walk alone ; Freedom to play

9. Dangerous things. The art of fire ; Tools ; Adventure play ; Necessary dangers ; A celebration of fear

10. Tough subjects. Death ; Religion

11. Facing the past. The history of memory ; Historic crimes and responsibility

12. Big kids, big worries (Grosse kinder, grosse sorgen). The space to be young ; An extra-long adolescence ; The academic question ; Achieving adulthood

13. Coming back to America. Starting American school ; Fourth-grade blues ; Freedom for kids in the land of the free

Epilogue German lessons. The rights of children ; Freedom of ideas.