The focus in many language curricula is shifting from "four skills" to "literacy." In a literacy-oriented curriculum, texts stand at the center of every course at every level. Teachers introduce content through texts early in the language learning process, assist even advanced students with the challenges of reading and writing in German, and help learners make connections at every level between texts, language, and culture. This article describes approaches and offers materials for teaching a classic German children's novel, Erich Kastner's "Emilunddie Detektive" (1929), in the second year of a literacy-oriented curriculum.