Jim Weiss

Jim Weiss is one of a few children's artists who will get on stage with only his voice. Yet that voice, at times soothing and at times spellbinding, has enthralled millions of kids through recordings and concerts. Weiss' storytelling, and especially, his selection of material, has garnered multiple awards and has made him one of the best selling storytellers in the '90s.

A native of Chicago, Illinois, Weiss moved to Los Angeles to become a public school teacher. He had hoped to write and sing songs on the side, but he and his wife Randy hated the fast-paced life in Los Angeles. So the Weiss family moved to northern California.

Weiss had been telling stories to his daughter, Danna, for years. So, in 1989, Weiss took his last $12,000 and put it into developing his own recording company, Greathall Productions. He set to work recording original and classic stories such as "The Knights of the Roundtable" and "The Three Musketeers," and marketing them to independent bookstores and children's record stores.

Weiss managed to produce 19 full-length albums in eight years, including King Arthur and His Knights, Sherlock Holmes for Children and Shakespeare for Children. Along the way, he picked up nearly every award, including Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Audio, Parent's Choice Gold, and multiple American Library Association awards. In 1998, he and his family moved again, to Virginia. ~ P.J. Swift, Rovi