In 2001, during an interview on a Connecticut radio station, Steve Burt read Tina’s Tender Touch, a story he had published in Mature Living Magazine. The phones lit up, listeners begging for more. So he read The Thumb Island Elephants, about a coastal community in a 1909 Christmas Eve snowstorm that had to come together to rescue an circus elephant and her baby who were trapped in an overturned circus wagon on the railroad tracks. Sales of the Rev. Dr. Burt’s book, A Christmas Dozen, went through the roof, with Family Circle Magazine showcasing a Vermont story, Nana Antonia’s Christmas Wish, about a young boy and his father clashing over how to respond to a dying great-grandmother’s yearning for a Christmas Eve sleigh ride. Readers loved it and Dr. Burt was invited to do a 100+ radio station tour. Then Chicken Soup for the Soul reprinted Tina’s Tender Touch. Readers laughed, cried, and shared the stories with friends, clergy, and family.Now, 20 years later, with A Christmas Dozen out of print, we’re bringing back 10 of the original 12 stories as the New England Christmas Sampler. Enjoy. And share.