Jim Weiss Storytelling CDs Reviews

Jim Weiss is by far my favorite storyteller and narrator. He is exciting and doesn’t drone on. His CD’s are wonderful to listen to while carschooling.

I wish he would make a visual component to the audio stories as my son and I are visual learners.

We’ve gotten these from the library and have enjoyed the stories very much. They are a nice alternative to reading aloud if you want entertainment in the car (how we’ve listened to them) or something to engage the kids at home for a time.

My four children have grown up listening to Jim Weiss’ story telling. We have purchased several of his cd’s after listening to everything that we could find available at the library. We take many road trips and we are never without a book-on-tape or cd. The great thing about Jim Weiss’ stories, are that they are suitable for a wide age range. There is a gap of almost 10 years between my oldest child and youngest child, and just when the youngest is getting hooked, the oldest would say, “Oh, I remember this one…I love this story!” Jim Weiss’ voice is soothing and expressive. He makes the hours fly by in the car!

This cd is reasonably priced and has great examples of well-known tall tales. It took a minute for my small kids to quiet down as we listened in the car, but once they did, they were hooked.

The narration is engaging and lively, and I found myself visualizing what was being described. There really are no drawbacks in my opinion. I would suggest listening to the cd before the kids do so you can make a note of what needs to be introduced or explained before they hear it, for example where tall tales originated from, why they are called that, etc.

I am a proponent of books on tape and book/cd sets, and this cd gives listeners a chance to visualize scenes on their own. A great discussion after listening might be to compare how listeners “saw” things differently from each other.