Jim’s Recordings by Age Level
This page lists the Jim Weiss’ stories, presorted for age suitability. Your child may listen to whatever stories they want, but these categories give them a good place to start! Click a title to visit the recording’s page.
Not sure which Jim Weiss story to try first? Why not try a little of everything? Download Jim’s free sampler and pick your favorite!
3 and Up 5 and Up 7 and Up 9 and Up Other selections
3 and Up
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Good Night and
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These two recordings provide guided visualizations for gentle and relaxing bedtime listening. | |
| The perfect FIRST SPOKEN WORD recording for a child ready for a real story. | ||
| Half step more mature than Animal Tales. | ||
| Follows Tell Me A Story; a collection of classic stories. | ||
| A gentle old rabbit lives in the forest and helps those in need (a classic 19th century story retold). | ||
| Can a brave knight, a misunderstood dragon, and a clever boy find a way to win a fight without actually fighting? | ||
| Unabridged stories performed with animation. |
5 and Up
| The songs add to the spoken-word experience, rather than distracting from it. | ||
| Three fairy tales with music (a waltz and a minuet) between each one so that children can dance along. | ||
| Alternates stories and poems by authors such as Hans Christian Andersen and Lewis Carroll. | ||
| Notable for its creative, problem-solving female characters. | ||
| The story introduces the main Arthurian characters. ALA review: “Whets the appetite for a more civilized world.” Also available as a Companion Reader. | ||
| A broad survey of the stories at the very heart of Western civilization. | ||
| Two of the all-time great swashbuckling adventures. | ||
| Jim’s retelling of the Dickens classic, along with O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi” and Bret Harte’s Gold Rush story, “Dick Spindler’s Family Christmas.” | ||
| The classic story: the grass on the other side of the fence is not always greener. | ||
| Classics from many lands: wonderful to enhance the study of geography.” | ||
| Jim tells the stories of Passover, Purim and Chanukah. | ||
| Jim tells about great biblical figures in a way that sets them on a human level. Portions of “Abraham and the Idols” and “David’s Dance” come from the Apocrypha. | ||
| Both retellings offer powerful incentives to read the actual books. | ||
| Adventure and humor for young listeners. Also available as a Companion Reader. |
7 and Up
| ALA review says, “A great way to lead children to non-Disney Kipling.” | ||
| These three recordings are especially suited for children who love adventure but are reluctant readers. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is also available as a Companion Reader. | ||
| The perfect stories for a child who wants something “scary” (but doesn’t really want to be scared). Also available as a Companion Reader. | ||
| Focuses on the relationship of Holmes and Watson, and on problem-solving with wit. | ||
| Each story comes from a great literary master. (Nothing scary in this one.) | ||
| The longest and best known of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. | ||
| These three recordings tell stories of men and women who overcame profound challenges with vision, determination and passion. | ||
| True stories of Americans who made lasting contributions to music, science, literature and politics. | ||
| Balanced, intelligent, and moving stories about the human qualities of these leaders. (One separate track on Abraham Lincoln is Jim’s recital, in character, of the Gettysburg Address.) | ||
| The women featured in this recording changed the course of history. | ||
| An engaging introduction to the U.S. dream of a continent-spanning U.S.A., with dialogue from the journals of Lewis and Clark and real Oregon Trail travelers. | ||
| Retellings of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “The Taming of the Shrew” that include many lines from the original plays as an introduction to Shakespeare’s language. | ||
| Plenty of swordplay and humor as well as the immortal romance. | ||
| A skillful mix of the historical Julius Caesar and the Caesar of Shakespeare’s play. | ||
| Combines adventure and romance with traditional Celtic music. | ||
| The first half of this recording is a retelling of the greatest Egyptian myths; the second is the true story of scientists finding a real mummy’s tomb. | ||
| An exploration of the royal courts of Ancient Egypt. | ||
| Thrilling episodes from the history and culture of ancient Greece, including the Olympics, the 300 Spartans, and the wisdom of Socrates |
9 and Up
| The longest and best known of the Sherlock Holmes Mysteries. More intense than the Sherlock Holmes for Children or Mystery! Mystery! recordings. | ||
| A wonderful retelling of a classic that students will encounter again in high school—along with much more information about the French Revolution. |
Jim’s Recordings of Other Books
| Jim reads the Newbery Award-winning historical novel unabridged, and provides distinct “voices” to 58 diverse characters. | ||
| This classic swashbuckler, set in medieval England during the reign of Henry IV, is a wonderful addition to the study of the Middle Ages. |
Jim’s Poetry Recordings
| The first part of Jim’s poetry collection, A Cornucopia of Best-Loved Poems. | ||
| The second part of Jim’s poetry collection, A Cornucopia of Best-Loved Poems. |