Sprouts

by Sibéal Pounder

In the year 4024, Christmas is everywhere. Santa Claus rules the world and the Big Day happens EVERY DAY! There are holographic elves to grant your wishes, travel is by flying sleigh, and all food is served as candy canes, in any flavour you can imagine!

Not everyone gets to celebrate 24/7 though. Gryla Garland is a witch banished to the Mince Pie Isles, where Christmas comes but once a year. All she's ever wished for is to join the festive world.

But when Santa's daughter, Merrilee Claus, comes crashing into her life, Gryla realises Christmas every day might not be such a good thing after all. With the real magic of Christmas long forgotten, it's up to Gryla, Merrilee and a lot of sprouts, to bring the magic back …

***
'Silly and clever and very, very funny' – i Newspaper
'Lots of fun' – Books for Keeps
'This is a rip-roaring festive read filled to the brim with fun, adventure, and the occasional Krampus!' – Scottish Book Trust

Genres: Middle Grade, Christmas

238 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 26, 2024

About the author

Sibéal has written for publications including The Guardian, fashion trend forecaster WGSN, Vogue.com and The Financial Times, where she was the resident philanthropy columnist for the How To Spend It section for six years. She studied Modern History at St Andrews and Quentin Tarantino film at Yale.

Her bestselling debut Witch Wars has been translated into 10 languages so far and was shortlisted for the Sainsbury's Children's Book Award and the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize.

Reviews

[Kelly Gartland · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5. This is so cute. I want more from this world 😍

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tinsel is my favourite Christmas book so when I heard Sibéal Pounder was writing another Christmas book I knew I had to read it! I had high hopes for this book and I was not disappointed as I really enjoyed this!! I didn’t know this before I read the book but this almost acts as a sort of sequel to Tinsel, so I was obviously very excited about that (every time there was a reference to something that had been in Tinsel I squealed in my head- I love that book too much). I loved the characters (especially Merilee). This is a really good Christmas book that was new that me this year but I will definitely be rereading in the future!

[Joey Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a cracker of a story, so much adventure and so many things wrong with the world around our characters that they must do something about it. I had an absolute blast reading this book, just like Tinsel you have two incredible female protagonists that you instantly like and cannot wait to see where their adventure ends up.

Christmas is now everyday, and it’s not fun like it once was, now it’s watched over by evil Krampus’s, candy canes are the only food eaten but comes in many flavours. Do one thing that’s not festive and boom you’re punished or taken. There was so much to this world that kept you hooked, wanting to know why and how it got that way, what the girls were going to do to fix it, what happened to all our Carol friends from Tinsel.

I really enjoyed Merillee and Grylas friendship, from being kidnapped but not knowing the full scope of why, to the two of them blasting off in the sleigh finding the Carols and having to dodge all the Krampus’s. Then having to find a way to save the day when it seemed almost impossible to do so.

Another wonderful Christmassy filled adventure, full of whimsy and imagination. This story is perfect it’s fun all the way through, the characters are amazing, there’s so much action, you cannot wait to see how the issues are solved and a talking Tinselcat who is amazing. This book is honestly such a wonderful read and perfect round the holiday season, I highly recommend it.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the perfect Christmas book, filled with adventure, friendship, and candy canes!

Gryla, is a witch, but she hates it, while the whole world busy with Christmas celebrations year-round, witches only celebrate once a year on Mince Pie Island. Everything changes when Gryla is kidnapped by Merrilee and taken to Humbug, the Christmas capital of the world.

It turns out that Christmas year-round isn’t as fun as it seems, especially because there are severe punishments for anyone who doesn’t celebrate adequately. Merrilee, the daughter of Santa Claus, desperately needs Gryla’s help to stop the Krampus, terrible monsters who enforce Christmas laws.

Sprouts was a well-written story with an amazing plot and charming characters. It’s the perfect book to read under the covers with a nice cup of hot chocolate and a candy cane—though perhaps not a sprout-flavored one

Thanks Netgalley and Bloomsbury for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review

[A Bookworm Crafts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book with my nine year old.

The story takes place in a world where it's always Christmas. Witches, however, live in the Mince Pie Isles where Christmas only happens once a year. Gryla, a witch, is taken on an adventure by a mysterious figure, in a quest to stop the Krampuses and put Christmas back to 25 December for the entire world.

The story was well written and engaging. My son's only complaint was that the dungeons were mentioned a little bit too much, which meant that when they actually made it to the dungeons it was less exciting than it could have been.

A recommend read for fans of Witch Wars and people who love Christmas.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Children's for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Gemma Gilbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Festive adventure bringing back the magic of Christmas. Absolutely loved it ❤️ think I need a mince pie picnic!

[Dreximgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 I really enjoyed this, the links to Tinsel was so cute. I loved the characters and the overall feel of this book was fantastic. Really enjoyable read.

[Eni]

Absolutely lovely

[Amy-Jayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love the concept of this book! It was a magical, fun adventure throughout with lots of clever Christmas links. A great festive read!