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A visual history · Grammys

The winners who defined Children's Spoken.

18 ceremonies, 1994–2011. 12 different winners. The longest run belongs to Tom Chapin, with 2 straight wins.

Who won most recently?
Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton in 2011 for Julie Andrews' Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies.
Who has won the most?
Tom Chapin and Various artists, tied on 3 wins each.
  1. Julie Andrews' Collection of Poems, Songs, and LullabiesJulie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton
  2. Aaaaah! Spooky, Scary Stories & SongsBuck Howdy
  3. Yes to Running! Bill Harley LiveBill Harley
  4. Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsJim Dale
  5. Blah Blah Blah: Stories About Clams, Swamp Monsters, Pirates and DogsBill Harley
  6. Marlo Thomas & Friends: Thanks & Giving All Year LongVarious artists
Years explored
1994–2011
Different winners
12
Category leader
Tom Chapin · 3
About this record

Best Spoken Word Album for Children was first awarded in 1994, so it does not run the full 1959–2025 window.

It was awarded for the last time in 2011.

From 2012 the Grammys awarded Best Children's Music Album instead.

2000–2011

12 ceremonies

19942011

01 / The reigns

Tom Chapin set the longest run.

The timeline turns the 2000–2011 record into a sequence of reigns. Longer bands reveal sustained runs; color shows the credited label.

  1. 01
    Tom Chapin3 wins
  2. 02
    Bill Harley2 wins
  3. 03
    Jim Dale2 wins
Each band is one winner’s reign. Wider means a longer run. Colored by label; hover for details.
Graham Greene, Wynton Marsalis, and Kate Winslet'00
Jim Dale'01
Tom Chapin'02–'03×2
Bill Clinton, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Sophia Loren'04
Tom Chapin'05
Various artists'06
Bill Harley'07
Jim Dale'08
Bill Harley'09
Buck Howdy'10
Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton'11

02 / The power map

Who stood behind the winners?

Listening Library leads the recorded label credits with 2 wins, 2000–2011. The full distribution shows whether power was concentrated or shared.

Listening Library2 wins
Brunswick Records1 win
Warner1 win
Wins by label
  1. Listening Library250%
  2. Brunswick Records125%
  3. Warner125%

8 further wins have no label on record and are not counted in the 4 above.

8 of these 12 wins have no label on record, so the chart covers the other 4.

03 / The near misses

The names that kept coming back without the ending they wanted.

Counting nominations in this category only, 2000–2011. Excludes 8 nominations credited to Various artists, which names a compilation rather than an act.

Most nominated, never won this award

  1. 01
    Dean Pitchford
    2 noms

Most losses in this category

  1. 01
    Jim Dale
    4L · 2W
  2. 02
    Bill Harley
    2L · 2W
  3. 03
    Dean Pitchford
    2L · 0W

04 / The archive

Every year.
Every winner.

The complete reference behind the story, showing 2000–2011. Open any year to see the rest of the field when nominee records are available.

YearWinnerLabel
2011Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton (Julie Andrews' Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies)
beat 4 others
  • Selma Blair (Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition)
  • Bill Harley (The Best Candy in the Whole World)
  • Emma Thompson (Nanny McPhee Returns)
  • Various artists (Healthy Food for Thought: Good Enough to Eat)
Not listed
2010Buck Howdy (Aaaaah! Spooky, Scary Stories & Songs)
beat 5 others
  • Ed Asner (Scat)
  • Harlan Ellison (Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There)
  • David Hyde Pierce (The Phantom Tollbooth)
  • Dean Pitchford (Captain Nobody)
  • Various artists (Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales)
Not listed
2009Bill Harley (Yes to Running! Bill Harley Live)
beat 4 others
  • Buck Howdy and BB (Around the Campfire)
  • Gwyneth Paltrow (Brown Bear and Friends)
  • Dean Pitchford (The Big One-Oh)
  • Tony Shalhoub (The Cricket in Times Square)
Not listed
2008Jim Dale (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)
beat 4 others
  • Milbre Burch (Making the Heart Whole Again: Stories for a Wounded World)
  • Diane Ferlatte (Wickety Whack – Brer Rabbit Is Back)
  • Toni Morrison (Who's Got Game? The Ant or the Grasshopper? The Lion or the Mouse? Poppy or the Snake?)
  • Stanley Tucci and Meryl Streep (The One and Only Shrek)
Listening Library
2007Bill Harley (Blah Blah Blah: Stories About Clams, Swamp Monsters, Pirates and Dogs)
beat 4 others
  • Jim Dale (Peter Pan)
  • John McCutcheon (Christmas in the Trenches)
  • Lynn Redgrave (The Witches)
  • Various artists (Disney's Little Einsteins Musical Missions)
Not listed
2006Various artists (Marlo Thomas & Friends: Thanks & Giving All Year Long)
beat 4 others
  • Jim Dale (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)
  • Roy Dotrice (Pooh's Heffalump)
  • Ray Romano (Raymie, Dickie, and the Bean: Why I Love and Hate My Brothers)
  • Various artists (A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning)
Atlantic/Kid Rhino
2005Tom Chapin (The Train They Call the City of New Orleans)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Marin Alsop (The Story of Classical Music)
  • John Lithgow (The Emperor's New Clothes)
  • Various artists (Green Eggs and Ham and Other Servings of Dr. Seuss)
  • Elaine Stritch (The Best Halloween Ever)
Not listed
2004Bill Clinton, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Sophia Loren (Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf/Beintus: Wolf Tracks)
beat 4 others
  • Jim Broadbent (Winnie-the-Pooh)
  • Jim Dale (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)
  • Eric Idle (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
  • Carl Reiner (Tell Me a Scary Story)
Not listed
2003Tom Chapin (There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly)repeat
beat 4 others
  • Jamie Lee Curtis (The Jamie Lee Curtis Audio Collection)
  • John Lithgow and various artists (Ogden Nash's the Christmas That Almost Wasn't)
  • Jerry Seinfeld (Halloween)
  • Various artists (Monsters, Inc. DVD Read-Along)
Brunswick Records
2002Tom Chapin (Mama Don't Allow)
beat 4 others
  • Tim Curry (A Series of Unfortunate Events – Book 1: The Bad Beginning)
  • Vanessa Redgrave and Stephen Fry (Oscar Wilde: The Selfish Giant & The Nightingale And The Rose)
  • Various artists (Dr. Seuss – How the Grinch Stole Christmas!)
  • Ruth Westheimer (Timeless Tales and Music of Our Time)
Not listed
2001Jim Dale (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)
beat 4 others
  • James Earl Jones (The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey)
  • Liam Neeson (The Polar Express)
  • Paul Newman (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer)
  • Susan Sarandon (Dinosongs: Poems to Celebrate a T. Rex Named Sue)
Listening Library
2000Graham Greene, Wynton Marsalis, and Kate Winslet (Listen to the Storyteller)
beat 4 others
  • Jim Dale (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)
  • Bill Harley (The Battle of Mad Scientists and Other Tales of Survival)
  • Hayden Panettiere (A Bug's Life Read-Along)
  • Sesame Street Muppets (Let's Eat!)
Not listed