Jim Weiss (born November 24, 1948, in

Highland Park, Illinois Highland Park is a suburban city located in southeastern Lake County, Illinois, United States, about north of downtown Chicago. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 30,176. Highland Park is one of several municipali ...

) is an American children's audio storyteller, book narrator and author. Since 1989 Weiss has released over seventy audio recordings, for preschool through college, of classic and/or historical books with an emphasis on character building. He is a Storytelling World Award winner and his work has been recognized by the

Film Advisory Board The Film Advisory Board (FAB) is a member-supported organization founded in 1975 by Elayne Blythe (1919–2005). The FAB's "Award of Excellence" was developed to award quality family-oriented and children's entertainment in both print and elec ...

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

, and Parents' Guide to Children's Media for his contribution to storytelling and audio entertainment. Examples of his expressive retellings include various works of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...

, American Tall Tales,

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

and

Aesop's fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a Slavery in ancient Greece, slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 Before the Common Era, BCE. Of varied and unclear origins, the stor ...

''. The book selections are supportive of educators within the

classical education movement The classical education movement or renewal advocates for a return to a Classical education, traditional European education based on the liberal arts education, liberal arts (including the natural sciences), the Western canons of Classic book, ...

in addition to having a following within

homeschool Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...

circles and Christian families. Weiss is also the narrator for the audio versions of Susan Wise Bauer's popular ''The Story of the World'' series. His work was originally released by Great Hall Productions founded by Weiss and his wife Randy with the maxim "''Intelligent Entertainment for the Thinking Family''." Today his body of work is published by Well-Trained Mind Press, available on CDs and streaming with

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...

services and apps. As of 2022 he was producing two recordings a year. The Weiss' have one daughter along with her family, and live in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

Book Recordings - partial listing

G.A. Henty

* ''Henty Short Stories'' (Volume I) , 1800s, frontier Ohio & England * '' The Cat of Bubastes'' , 1250 BC Egypt * ''The Young Carthaginian'' , 220 BC Rome &

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...

* ''Beric the Briton.'' , 62 AD Ancient Britain & Rome * ''For the Temple'' , 70 AD Jerusalem * ''Wulf the Saxon'' , 1066, England * ''In Freedom’s Cause'' , 1296-1314, Scotland & England * ''The Lion of St Mark'' , 1300s, Venice, Italy * * ''The Lion of the North'' , 1618-1648,

Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine, or disease, whil ...

, Europe * '' In the Reign of Terror'' , 1793, French Revolution The nine Henty novels are “thoughtfully abridged” which is described as minor edits removing vast amounts of repetition.

World history and stories

The Ancient World to 70 AD

* ''Story of the World, Vol. I: The Ancients'' , 5000 BC – 400 AD * ''Bible Stories: Great Men and Women From Noah through Solomon'' , 2000s BC - 900s BC Middle East * ''Tales from the Old Testament'' , 6000 BC - 400 BC Middle East * ''Egyptian Treasures: Mummies & Myths'' , 3000 BC * ''Tales from Cultures Far & Near'' , 3000 BC, China * ''The Dragon Diaries: Dragon Stories From Around the World'' , 3000 BC * ''Jewish Holiday Stories'' , 2000 BC - 300 BC, Middle East * ''Pharaohs and Queens of Ancient Egypt'' , 1500 BC - 1200 BC * ''The Cat of Bubastes'' by G. A. Henty , 1250 BC, Egypt * ''Greek Myths'' , 1000 BC * ''She & He: Adventures in Mythology'' , 1000 BC, Greece * ''Courage and a Clear Mind: True Adventures of Ancient Greeks'' , 1000 BC * ''

for Children, A Midsummer’s Night Dream'' , 1000 BC, Greece * ''Heroes in Mythology'' , 1000 BC, Greece * ''A Treasury of Wisdom'' (

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

) , 1000 BC, Israel * ''Animal Tales'' (

Aesop Aesop ( ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE; formerly rendered as Æsop) was a Greeks, Greek wikt:fabulist, fabulist and Oral storytelling, storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence re ...

) , 600 BC * ''

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...

& the Stargazers'' (

Archimedes Archimedes of Syracuse ( ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Greek mathematics, mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and Invention, inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse, Sicily, Syracuse in History of Greek and Hellenis ...

) , 400 BC, Sicily * ''A Treasury of Wisdom'' (

Diogenes Diogenes the Cynic, also known as Diogenes of Sinope (c. 413/403–c. 324/321 BC), was an ancient Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynicism (philosophy), Cynicism. Renowned for his ascetic lifestyle, biting wit, and radical critique ...

) , 400 BC, Greece * ''A Treasury of Wisdom'' (

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

) , 300 BC, Greece * ''The Young Carthaginian'' by G. A. Henty , 220 BC, Rome/Carthage * ''

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

and the Story of Rome'' , 44 BC * ''A Treasury of Wisdom'' ( The Good Samaritan) , 1st Century AD * ''Beric the

Briton British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, w ...

'' , 62 AD, Ancient Britain, Rome * ''For The Temple'' by G. A. Henty , 70 AD. Jerusalem

References

External links

*Official website
Great Hall - Storytelling Recordings and Performances by Jim Weiss

FacebookWell Trained MindAudibleApple BooksAmazon
*YouTube
Great Hall Productions
Audiobook narrators Living people 1948 births {{US-entertainer-stub