I can’t get enough of Jim Weiss! No, he’s not a celebrity, except with Moms all over the country who, well love him! Why, he’s a good old fashioned storyteller.

In our hyper parenting culture, we parents are bound and determined that our children are not only well-behaved; they must also be, well fabulous. They must do well in school, excel at sports and be artistically gifted.

High goals, frustratingly unattainable, but we try.

I admit though, I want something more than a child that does well at school. I want one who is educated. And, that means reading, reading, reading a wide variety of books until I’m hoarse. And that’s when I let Jim Weiss take over.

His collection of audio books takes the best in children’s literature, fables and stories and puts them on CD. My son has been listening to Jim Weiss since he was3. He listens while he plays. He listens while we drive in the car. He listens in the bathtub now too because he begs. Tales from Cultures Far and Near, is one of his favorites, featuring stories from such varied places as Japan, Spain and Senegal.

And it shows. Educators highly recommend audio CDs for young children as it increases their vocabulary and helps them develop the ability to focus on the spoken word. These are, of course skills highly regarded by elementary school teachers trying desperately to wrangle a classroom full of feisty students.