German
In preparation for my trip to Germany this summer, I’ve been focusing on my German. I had a decent French graded reader (see below), but I couldn’t find one for German. Ziefle’s Modern Theological German is good for a reader but not necessarily as a graded reader–one that begins with much easier text and then moves harder.

A friend, who is studying at Tübingen (Aberdeen student), put me on to this short (less than 50 pages), graded reader in German about Albert Schweitzer. I thought it was a nice intro, and for around $8 from a used book seller, it was a cheap buy. As the first of one of their elementary books, it gives you fairly simple grammar (mostly present tense, etc.) and a 600+ word dictionary in the back. It is part of a series of books in a series called Cultural Graded Readers by American Book Company. From the preface the books in the series are supposed to be increasingly more difficult. These were done in the 1950s and 1960s, so their not easy to find, but I didn’t have too much trouble finding a used book dealer online that had copies. (Sorry no ISBN)

German Series: Elementary (Goedsche-Glaettli) [Germans who settled in the US]
I: Sutter
II: Steuben
III: Carl Schurz
IV: Einstein
V: Kleinstadt in Amerika (Goedsche-Neuse-Zorb)

Alternate German Series: Elementary (Goedsche-Glaettli) [Famous Germans outside the US]
I: Schweitzer
II: Thomas Mann
III: Heine
IV: Beethoven
V: Steinmetz

New German Series: Elementary (Goedsche-Spann)
I: Durer
II: Mozart
III: Humboldt
IV: Rilke
V: Kafka

German Series: Intermediate
VI: Deutschland–Land und Sprache
VII: Deutschland–Vergangenheit und Gegenwart
VIII: Deutschland–Leben

It would get quite spendy to pick all of these up, so if anyone knows a one- or two-book alternative like I found for French, please pass your tips along.

French
I found this french graded reader a couple of years ago–Easy French Reader. It has 3 sections: 1) a story of US girl living in Paris–conversations and descriptions of life, 2) a history of France, with accounts of famous leaders, and 3) four short stories by French authors. I found it very helpful, and relatively inexpensive. It moves from elementary to intermediate French readings in one book (~200 pages). It also contains an answer key to the chapter questions and a glossary with ~1400 words/phrases.