A Collection of Christmas Stories
That Grip the Heart!

To one of the longest-running Christmas story anthologies in American history we add yet another volume--our twelfth in 12 years. The series is one of the finest libraries of Christmas stories in English. What’s the secret of its appeal? Perhaps it’s the lump-in-the-throat factor, the moving stories that grip the heart and moisten the eyes. Fortunately, all 12 volumes are still available in print at the original price.

In this year's collection Senator John McCain of Arizona recalls his most special Christmas, celebrated in a North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp, where men of faith, joyful and triumphant in the face of torment, exchanged gifts they did not have.

Another selection tells the story of the birth of "Silent Night," one of the songs the prisoners sang. Other stories tell of Christmas money lost and then better-than-found; of relationships mended; of temptations trumped; of orphans nurtured; of lovers reunited. In these pages the human spirit, with all its passion and pride, faith and foibles, finds hope once again in a manger.

Twelve is a perfect number biblically. As I searched for the perfect introduction for our twelfth collection, I could find nothing that could come even close to the greatest story ever told—the Nativity story itself.

But how could I make it truly special? After considerable prayer and research, I was impressed to retell (with new insights) one of the almost forgotten stories in the New Testament: the love story of Joseph and Mary. Running parallel is another almost forgotten story: the strong role Joseph had as father and mentor to Jesus, the Light of the world.

May these stories be a blessing to you and your family during this season of the Christ Child.

—Joe L. Wheeler

Introduction: Joseph’s Love Story, by Joseph Leininger Wheeler

The Kidnapped Doll, by Myrtle "Cookie" Potter

Van Valkenberg’s Christmas Gift, by Elizabeth G. Jordan

Joyful and Triumphant, by John McCain

A Love Song for Christmas, by D. T. Doig

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Keene," by Jewell Johnson

A Song Is Born, by Ruth Langland Holberg

Santa Claus Is Kindness, by Temple Bailey

Our Part of the Circle, by Joyce Reagin

The Family Twinkle, by Nancy N. Rue

Christmas Bread, by Kathleen Norris

The Night of the Blizzard, by Lawrence J. Seyler, as told to Sue Phillip

The Story of the Field of Angels, by Florence Morse Kingsley

The Gift of the Manger, by Edith Barnard Delano

Somewhere I’ll Find You, by Donald L. Deffner

Christmas Sabbatical, by Joseph Leininger 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.