One of our Advent readalouds has been this book. It is based on the life of a real family.The chapters are short, and the illustrations humorous at times.As the web page says concerning the book:

“Cole Family Christmas is a delightful story about a coal-mining family of eleven in the Appalachian Mountains who learns that love and togetherness far surpass material things. It’s a story similar to the O'Henry's Gift of the Magi in which one’s most prized possession take on a new meaning when you give them away.

The humble family with nine children tightly embrace the importance of listening and respect as they struggle to make ends meet in the harsh climes in the Kentucky mountains. The co-authors, eighty-eight year old Hazel Cole Kendle, on which her true story is based, and her granddaughter-in-law Jennifer Liu Bryan, write with such beauty that you can feel the cold drifting up from the frigid floorboards. You can smell the food Mama cooks and sense the coziness in the tiny kitchen as her children help her prepare each family meal.”