So many readers fell in love with the heartwarming stories in Christmas in My Heart, book 1, that the collection has been reprinted several times. People all over the U.S., Canada, and England wrote to the author, expressing their appreciation. Many even sent their favorite Christmas stories, urging that another collection be published. And so Christmas in My Heart, book 2, became a reality.

Powerful and emotive, these stories are timeless in their ability to help us experience the joy, wonder, and true meaning of Christmas. Their message of unselfish love turns our thoughts to Christ and reminds us of what Christmas is all about.

Stories in this book include: The Gift of the Magi, Have You Seen the Star? and The Tiny Foot, plus 11 others. To add to your Christmas enjoyment, selected stories from this book are available on cassette, read by Dr. Wheeler

So much of what passes for Christmas stories today is sterile and secular rather than embodying Christ-centered values. All my life I have been searching for these oh so few stories that move one deeply–from laughter to tears. Stories that remind us that Christmas without Christ is a travesty.–Joe L. Wheeler

Joe Wheeler’s writing career started in the fall of 1992 with a collection of heart-tugging stories called Christmas in My Heart, a series that he has become well-known for. Joe Wheeler has been called everything from "Keeper of the Story" to "Father Christmas."  He has been a frequent guest on Dr. James Dobson’s radio show "Focus on the Family", and today is considered to be one of America’s leading story anthologizers, editing collections for nine publishers: Doubleday/Random House, WaterBrook/Random House, Guideposts, Focus on the Family, Tyndale House, Harvest House, Review and Herald Publishing Association, RiverOak Publishing, and Pacific Press Publishing Association.

When asked how he got started, Wheeler tells interviewers that it all dates back to being home-schooled by a remarkable woman, Barbara Leininger Wheeler, his mother (both a teacher and a missionary) in Latin America.  His mother, an elocutionist of the old school, memorized thousands of pages of stories, readings, and poetry, and frequently recited in public.  But her specialty was the old-time, sentimental, Judeo-Christian short stories.  And his mother poured herself – and her stories – into her son, inoculating him with a terminal case of the ‘storyitis virus.’ 

Wheeler has a bachelor’s degree in both history and English from Pacific Union College, a master’s degree in history, a master’s degree in English from California State University, and a Ph.D. in English from Vanderbilt University.  Today, Wheeler is senior fellow for cultural studies at the Center for the New West in Denver, Colorado, and professor emeritus of Columbia Union College in Takoma Park, Maryland.

Wheeler and his wife, Connie, make their home in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado where they receive 200 inches of snow a year.