Cole Family Christmas tells the story of a special Christmas that happened to author Hazel Cole Kendle and her family in  the coal mining town of Benham, Kentucky.  When an unexpected snowstorm delayed Santa’s arrival, gifts were given and received that no one could have predicted. More than 80 years later, the story not only continues to bring this family together, but is now inspiring families across the nation to write down their own memories this Christmas.

Jennifer Liu Bryan, who co-authored Cole Family Christmas with her grandmother-in-law, based the book on a cherished story passed down through generations of the Cole family. Originally intended as a brief work to be distributed at the family reunion, the project evolved into a nationally praised children’s book, and involved more than 20 family members.

For more information on the book, check out the Cole Family Christmas website.

Reading helps bring the family together

A survey commissioned by the book’s publisher Next Chapter Press found that a traditional Christmas experience for 52 percent of Americans is reading aloud together as a family. Since Cole Family Christmas is a longer and harder books (for ages nine to 12), get together as a family to read it. Parents can turns reading it to younger children with help of the older kids in the family. The 74-page book should take you a few nights to read, so this would be a wonderful family activity to do in the nights leading up to Christmas.

Giving the gift of reading aloud as a family will not only deepen the bond during the holidays, but studies show it will also improve your child’s reading ability, said Bryan, who is also a  contributor to the advocacy website ReadAloud.org.  This is a great year to start reading together as a new family tradition.

I love her idea! Will you make reading together one of your New Year’s resolutions?

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