I love everything that this author writes and this is no different! Set in the year 4024 and Christmas is everyday! This is everything - so magical, so funny and so silly! The perfect Christmas read for families and classrooms everywhere.

We loved Tinsel by the same author and even though we only had access to the short extract, it was enough to get us hooked right away. Cant wait to read the rest - the author has a wonderful way of drawing you right in really quickly.

For those who prefer high fantasy, then why not dive into Sprouts - the book, not the food. I was completely won over by the pitch of Christmas x witches but even more so when I realised that this is a sort of sequel to Sibeal Pounder's brilliant Tinsel, although you don't have to have read that story to appreciate this one.

It's the year 4024 and Christmas happens everyday all over the world. From holographic elves to endless presents, the Krampus Alliance ensures that everyone is behaving Christmassy ALL the time...and there's big punishments if they're not.

Gryla Garland, a witch who is banished to the Mince Pie Isles, is desperate to experience this world of Christmassy joy. But her coven of witches believe that Christmas should only be celebrated once a year - as it used to be - and are therefore forbidden to leave the Isles. But when she is snatched by a girl in a sleigh, Gryla embarks on an adventure of discovery...and truth.

Told in a highly imaginative and fun way, this story explores the concept of 'too much of a good thing'. With unpleasantness lurking underneath the dazzle of Christmas lights, Gryla must dig deep under the snow to discover the reality of a constant Christmas and try and heal the divisions that have been created between witches, elves, the krampuses and the rest of the world.

Sibeal Pounder's worldbuilding and her ability to write stories that crackle with magic is a joy. As readers are whisked from magical landscape to magical landscape, prepare for a rollercoaster ride of witches, walking trees, candy canes, potions and spells. What an incredible combination!

I do love a Christmas book that can be read together and Sprouts is a great new one released this year! Set in the future, it is now Christmas every day and Santa Claus rules, with the witches banished to the Mince Pie Isles where Christmas is still only celebrated once a year. The two main characters are brilliant - Gryla is a witch who struggles to fit in with her peers and desperately wants to join the mainland celebrations every day; Merilee Claus is Santa's daughter who is always getting into trouble at home and isn't sure what Christmas really means any more.

It's a delightful adventure with the two girls getting into some really funny scrapes and situations. They both have really contrasting characters but it's lovely how they work together so well to try to achieve something that they both want.

A lovely book to read on the run-up to Christmas!

Now I've read the extract, I absolutely want to read the rest of this festive story. The extract ends on a real cliffhanger and I need to know what happens next! I love the idea of witches living in the Mince Pie islands and only celebrating Christmas once a year. I definitely want a tinselcat of my own!

I am so ready to leap into all things Christmasy and Sprouts is the perfect way to kick off the season!

Fast forward to a future where it's Christmas every day. All the food has been replaced by candy canes and nothing really feels exciting because you can have whatever you want, whenever you want it. The evil Krampuses have taken over - making all sorts of tyrannical rules. The true spirit of Christmas has gotten lost in their quest for power.

"A sprout a day keeps the witches away" - or so they say. When the Krampuses took control, they banished all witches to the Mince Pie Isles, including young, accident-prone Gryla Garland. Gryla loves Christmas and wishes she could live where they celebrate every day. She soon learns to be careful what she wishes for. Chosen as the next guardian of The Book of Belfana - the witches' powerful spell book - Gryla is kidnapped by Merrilee Claus (Santa's daughter) and promptly taken to Humbug, capital of Christmas. The Krampuses hope that if they can destroy the book, they'll destroy the witches once and for all.

Gryla and her delightful talking Tinselcat (with fur made entirely of tinsel) embark on a festive adventure that proves good will win in the end. The spirit of Christmas and the power of young women to out-smart those who want to control them is inspiring and fun in equal measure. With resilience, hope and determination, Gryla faces prejudices and challenges head on.

A fast-paced plot and short chapters packed full of personality magic this engaging story along like a flying sleigh on Christmas Eve. Children won't be able to put it down. This is definitely one for the Christmas book box!

This extract of Sprouts had made me seriously excited to read this whole book. It’s festive, mysterious and I am already hooked.

I loved Pounder last Christmas book - she’s great at festive books.

I would definitely recommend this book based on the chapters i have read.

Thank you to NetGalley.

We did not actually read this extract. When the children found out that the book had already been published, they forced me to buy the full book. Reading only an extract is too cruel apparently. Reading a little at a time, a bit like an advent calendar, but so far they are loving it !

Loved the previous book by this author (Tinsel) and was really hoping for more of the same quality but I found this a bit bland. It seems to have been written to try and fit a gap rather than to make an excellent story. I am sure many children will love the idea and read it happily but, as an adult who has read many, many children’s books I don’t feel this one quite hits the mark .

My daughter is a huge fan of Sibéal Pounder and has loved her previous books, the squeals when she saw this . Having reread Tinsel several times she loved being in this Christmas world. She did say Sprouts would work as a standalone novel but she wholeheartedly recommends reading Tinsel before Sprouts.

She loved the characters, the humour , the plot and the wonderful witchcraft. Looking forward to buying a copy to add to her collection on publication . Recommended for age 8+ readers who love magic, fun and adventure stories

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

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A brilliantly festive adventure. Christmas has taken over the world and must be celebrated every day.
The witches have been exiled to the Mince Pie isles and guard the book of spells.
Merrilee is the daughter of Santa and desperately wants to return Christmas tradition and celebrate once a year. Gryla, a witch, is bored and loves the idea of celebrating Christmas every day. When she becomes guardian of the book, and is whisked away by Merrilee, they both work together to return the old Christmas celebrations.
A book full of magic, candy canes and adventure. Loved it

It's really no secret that I love Christmas and that I adored Tinsel (you can read my review here) so when I saw Sprouts, I squealed with delight and it jumped to the top of my reading pile (which meant that I read it in 40 degree heat whilst lying on a sunbed!).

Set in the future, the book is based around the idea that every day is Christmas for everybody except the witches who have been banished to Mince Pie Isles where they still only celebrate it once a year. Now, I know I love Christmas but the thought of celebrating it everyday would fill even me with dread! And it's this opinion drives Merrilee to find Gryla in order to try to stop the Krampuses that were created in order to protect everyone from the witches and to ensure that Krampus Code is kept. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, things seem to have become rather unpleasant.

Like Tinsel, Sprouts is a Christmas story with a difference and is one that readers will adore. Perfect as a stand-alone book, it's also a wonderful book to read after Tinsel as there are some wonderful references that readers will spot - I loved this!

Publishing 26th September, Sprouts is guaranteed to fill you with Christmas spirit, put a smile on your face and leave you craving candy canes!

The year is 2000+2024 and it’s always Christmas.
Though the Christmas spirit is long gone.
Gryla Garland (yes, the puns);realises that it being always Christmas is not magical at all. Being a witch, a banished one who cares about Christmas, she joins forces with Santa’s daughter Merilee Claus (yes, more puns there, and I have not even mentioned the names of locations) to bring the sprouts back!

A very Christmasy book. It is witty. silly, creative and is full of nice jokes about Christmas tropes. I highly recommend this book for 8+, especially 9-12 year-olds, and it is highly enjoyable to read with and to younger children (5-8).

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