Family memories are made and remembered as they are told and retold from one generation to the next. They help us to feel a shared sense of our background and upbringing. Spoken history turned into the written word is a keepsake that families can cherish.

Cole Family Christmas by Jennifer Liu Bryan with Hazel Cole Kendle, illustrated by Jennifer Julich is A Treasured Tale and A Gift to Share. The Cole family, made up of Papa, Mama and nine children live in a small, crowded home with meager furnishings and very little money to even buy food and clothing. Their small town in Kentucky is a coal mining town. The men are workers in the dangerous mine and try to make a living off of their hard work.

The Cole children are used to doing chores every day as their parents have taught them well. Their oldest son, Dock, had to leave school in the eighth grade to help earn money for the family. They struggle, but love is the center of this family.

This special Christmas the Cole children are given the Sears and Roebuck Wish book to chose one gift of their own from Santa. This is something quite rare as they are not used to such a treat.

The whole family learns through the yearning for these gifts that there are much more important things to life than material things. They’ve known it all along but, through some frightening times this Christmas, their wishes become focused on their realization of what is really precious to them.

Co-Written by the baby in this story, Hazel, at the age of 88, she is the last surviving original member of the Cole Family. Her sister Ruble told this story to her and other family members throughout her life. Hazel wanted to share the tradition of family stories, especially those of the Appalachian people in the 1920’s and had her granddaughter-in-law, Jennifer Liu Bryan help her to write this book as she remembered it.

The publishers, Next Chapter Press donate a percentage of net proceeds of the sale of this book to the Berea College Appalachian Fund. The oldest daughter, Hazel’s sister, Maude attended Berea College.

Written for children aged 9 - 12, this book is a perfect family read at the holidays or anytime also. I read it and and enjoyed it thoroughly. My daughter who is 9, read it and understood the significance of the story.  My family works at keeping family traditions and memories alive. The Cole Family Christmas will help you to understand why this is so rewarding. Reading this book every Christmas can become one of your family traditions and a keepsake to pass down. You may be guided to write down your own family stories too.

Thank you to Family Review Network for providing this book to review.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 1:54 am and is filed under My Zany Family, books. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.