Nothing gathers my children’s attentions quite like the telling of a good story. They can nearly always goad their grandparents into telling them one at any time. Grammy makes up elaborate stories with creatures and characters of all sorts, while Mom Mom and Pop Pop tell stories of themselves as children. My littles love all the stories and request to hear them frequently!
That’s how I knew when Jim Weiss’ Greathall Productions offered to send us some of their story recordings to review, they would be a hit. I looked through their online catalogue of titles and had SUCH a hard time keeping my list relatively small. I decided to focus on titles that would be applicable to Classical Conversations cycle three or stories that we were already interested in pursuing.
Here are the ones we picked:
Gone West: Bold Adventures of American Explorers and Pioneers – A new nation that would stretch from ocean to ocean: this was the dream. Follow it into reality, from Jefferson and Monroe arranging the Louisiana Purchase through the bold explorations of Lewis & Clark, and Sacagawea.
American Tall Tales – These uproarious American folk stories will have you laughing out loud and pondering.
Greek Myths – Makes Hercules, King Midas, and Perseus and Medusa understandable to children, with strong emphasis on character over violence.
I Said I Could and I Did – True Stories of 20th Century Americans: In this inspiring collection of true stories of 20th Century Americans whose gifts transformed the world you will meet six remarkable Americans. These stories will have you shaking your head in wonder at the vast (and vastly entertaining) variety of ways in which humans can strive for greatness.
Women in Blue or Gray – The passion of the American Civil War comes alive as we look at pairs of remarkable, courageous and dedicated women from both sides of the Mason-Dixon line. These are true, thrilling stories that girls, boys and parents will find exciting and inspiring.
Masters of the Renaissance: Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and more – In true stories as vivid as the colors in which they painted, Jim Weiss brings to life the astounding Leonardo da Vinci; the volcanic genius Michelangelo; Brunelleschi, who changed the way we see the world; the lighthearted sculptor, Donatello; and other captivating characters.
A Treasury of Wisdom: Stories of Hope and Inspiration – Timeless wisdom drawn from 3000 years of accumulated experience offers hope, insight and inspiration to listeners of all ages. These true stories of great individuals include – Raphael, Michelangelo, Diogenes, Alexander The Great, King Solomon, Jesus’ “The Good Samaritan”, Beatrix Potter, Satchel Paige, and more.
Thomas Jefferson’s America – Experience the many facets of this remarkable man’s life as you examine his encounters with Washington, Adams, Madison, Franklin, Monroe, Hamilton and Lafayette. A masterly portrait of the founder whose life has come to personify the blessing, and the challenges, of being an American.
Abraham Lincoln & the Heart of America – Laughter, tragedy and astonishing triumphs abound in this storytelling biography of our sixteenth president who used humor, strength and moral clarity to steer a nation and a people through their most trying times.
We’ve already listened to & loved Sherlock Holmes for Children. I asked my guys to select the one we’d listen to first and I was not at all surprised they selected Holmes. I appreciated that the recording began with a brief introduction to the great detective Sherlock Holmes, his friend Dr. Watson, and the author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Jim Weiss employed impressive, different voices for each character. The accents were so fun!
I always love reading your blog. Thanks for such an awesome giveaway
We have the SOTW audiobooks read by Jim Weiss, and would be thrilled to listen to his voice read anything!
G A Henty Short Story Collection would be a great addition to our audio library.
I am looking for story recordings for my boys to listen as they fall asleep at night. I love all the books your family received!
We have one of the Story of the World audio volumes and my son LOVES these recordings. I’m sure this would be a hit also! Thanks.
Love your blog! Always come away with something helpful!
I would love to supplement cycle 3 with this recording. My oldest still loves audio books.
We listened to a Carry On, Mr. Bowditch on our vacation and it was great!
I love Jim Weiss, but couldn’t afford his audio books this year. Love to hear one.
I would love the Lincoln or the Jefferson CDs. My kids LOVED the Sherlock Holmes, too!
My boys love to listen to all the Jim Weiss audio! Story of the World is fantastic!
These are great for Cycle 3!
I had not seen Greathall’s catalog in a while. There’s a ton of stuff I didn’t know they had. Besides Gone West and the Civil War audio, I’d love for my boys to hear Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of the Baskervilles. And Tale of Two Cities.
My family LOVES listening to audiobooks! These would be a great addition to our schooling.
Awesome giveaway!
Masters of the Rennaisance sounds like it would be a hit, here. We have a few Jim Weiss cds amd listen to them often!
These sound awesome! Would love to win!
Any of the ones that connect to cycle 3 would be great!
Such an awesome giveaway!! I would love Thomas Jefferson or Sherlock Holmes for Children
Gone West and Tall Tales are currently on my wish list. We are big Jim Weiss fans here!
Thank you for passing the word along about these. I am definitely interested in more of these and will be looking into them. We love history and a great story helps it “stick”. Thanks, again!!
We have only been homeschooling for a couple of years. When we first started a friend of mine let me borrow a couple of cd’s of Jim’s work—he does a fantastic job!
BTW, I love your blog—thanks for all the practical tips and your encouragement.
These do look great! My son would love many of them, but I’d pick King Arthur or Gone West. THanks for the opportunity!
Shakespeare for Children! Thanks for the giveaway.
I get a lot of encouragement and resources from your blog. Thanks for another great giveaway!
We too are big Jim Weiss fans! I would say Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, there are too many…!
These look great. My son would love to listen to the stories. I really like the A Treasury of Wisdom: True Stories of Hope and Inspiration.
My kids would love “Famously Funny: A Collection of Beloved Stories and Poems”!
I’m looking forward to hearing the Tall Tales. They’ve been in my Wish List too. I’m Canadian and these stories were not part of my upbringing, but my kids are American and they will grow up knowing these classics:) So many great stories here…
Our family loves all audio stories and books fun
We love Jim Weiss! Would love to win any cd that go along with CC Cycle 3.
We are new to CC and living your blog!
We have Rip Van Winkle/ Gulliver’s Travels at the top of our wish list.
We so enjoy Jim Weiss in our household!! Thomas Jefferson is actually the next title on our wish list:)
We are beginning our schooling and CC journey this year and appreciate your blog for simply, attainable ideas. Thank you!
American Tall Tales looks like it would be a fun one to hear with my children.
This would go so well with C3! After digging into some Jim Weiss, we now want them all 🙂
We are homeschooling for the first time with our 4 kiddos this year and will be using CC. We are so excited and nervous. Your blog has been a great source of information and encouragement for me. Thank You!
Would love to use this!!
So excited…we have never had any of Jim Weiss’ products before.
Women in Blue or Gray looks great!!
We enjoy anything Jim Weiss here so any would be wonderful! I think Sherlock Holmes by him would be awesome!
I love Story of the World audio! I bet these are amazing!
Another fan of Jim Weiss, thank you for this giveaway! I had not heard about these. I think my children would really enjoy the Women in Blue or Gray and also the Sherlock Holmes for children.
I think Lewis and Clark sounds interesting but I couldn’t just pick one if I had to! Thanks for the great giveaway!
We would love the Jefferson CDs. They would be great for this cycle in CC!
We love Thomas Jefferson! I’m so excited that we will be covering him this cycle.
Thanks for the detailed review.
So many look good! It’s too hard to decide. Probably Lincoln.
How to pick just one?? Thomas Jefferson is definitely on our list too. Tales from the Old Testament and Greek Myths…I could go on and on!
We have been enjoying Jim Weiss for years now. The Shakespeare stories are s favorite in our house!
We also love Jim Weiss in our household! Thomas Jefferson looks great!
My two boys would love Sherlock Holmes! I’ve heard good things about these audio books from other moms in our CC Community. Anxious to try them!
Would love to try audio. Bought the SOTW books though to try for the first time this year. Can’t wait. And love your blog!
Wonderful giveaway!
Shakespeare for Children or A Treasury of Wisdom! What a wonderful giveaway!!
So happy to find your blog! This is our first year doing CC!
We love Jim Weiss! And so glad to have found your blog for our first year in CC!
We love Abraham Lincoln so I’m sure my family would all be interested in that one.
Masters of the Renaissance sounds so interesting!!
We love listening to him read Story of the World. Would love to add this to our collection!!
I have not heard Jim Weiss read… This giveaway sounds like a real treasure!