The Little Match girl by Hans Christian Andersen Iillustrated By Paul Durand (1974).

Of all the Christmas tales there have ever been THIS ONE is my most hated. It is so relentlessly sad and it only gets worse from there. The only thing I ever learned from this story is that freezing to death is really the best way to die. You just go to sleep and that is it. But damn this one was rough to read when you are a kid.