This is the ultimate feel good, girl power story for all young readers and those not so young who hold the magic of Christmas tight. This is an utterly enchanting story of Blanche and Rinki - the two girls who created Christmas and whose friendship is a joy to read. Everything about this book is done well, the challenging of gender stereotypes, the natural introduction of a two dad family, the awareness of social inequality, and even its eco- aware ending are all wrapped up in the magic of Christmas. There is so much hope, joy and love in this book and isn't that what everyone needs? I can't wait to read it again, read it aloud and buy it as presents. The author, who was new to me, has written a modern classic and this would make the most perfect Christmas film. A must for every bookshelf and under every tree and perfect to be read at every mince pie picnic...

With thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a truly magical read.

I picked this book because it looked like it would be Christmassy fun, and it was!

I love the idea that “Santa Claus” is not actually an old man, but in fact an idea dreamed up by two young girls, and brought into reality by them. The tale of how it came to be is funny, exciting and adventurous. Definitely worth a read if you’d like a different take on the Santa story.

I was given a free copy of this book, my opinions are my own.

Tinsel is a truly magical book that turns the Christmas story on its head and makes girls the hero's of our world. Blanche Claus is a young orphan girl who hates Christmas as it only serves to remind her how alone she is. But one snowy Christmas day, an old woman hands her a red bauble that contains magic. She finds a horse Rudy, who leads her to Rinki, another orphan girl who is to become her best friend, and someone she will share a mince pie picnic with every Christmas Eve.

And so begins the story of Christmas. A kindness, a friend and some food are the tiny magical ingredients that change how Blanche feels about Christmas forever. She is determined that she will one day provide gifts for every child in the world.

A mysterious iron box, elves all named Carol, a ship lost at sea, Santa, the North Pole and a dancing Christmas tree called Eggnog are all essential players in this wonderful tale. And of course, there wouldn't be a true adventure without a villain, who comes in the form of Mr Krampus, a mean-spirited humbug who Blanche and Rinki must outwit if they are to succeed in their mission.

A tale of the kindness of strangers, the power of friendship and a wonderfully reimagined tale, putting girls at the forefront where they so deserve to be.

Tinsel is a Christmas story for the 21st century. With a refreshing twist on the origin of the Santa Claus story, it shows just how much girls can do!

This is the story of Ms. Claus – an orphan named Blanche Claus, whose magical adventure results in the launch of the biggest Christmas undertaking ever. Back in 1875, Blanche hated Christmas. Life on the streets on London was cold and sad. But when a strange old woman gives her a magical, red bauble, everything changes. Blanche meets the most extraordinary characters and through an unusual series of events, finds herself at North Pole. With gingerbread, mince pie picnics, an elf named Carol, and a fir tree named Eggnog, Blanche realises she has the power to make a positive difference in the world.

Tinsel is full of the magic of friendship and finding your kindred spirits. It is charming, overflowing with fun and stuffed full of creativity. Clever, strong girls are celebrated as they make their own dreams come true. They never give up and prove that determination can cause the most wonderful things to happen.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Children’s Books for this festive story!

Oh my goodness, what can I say about this book - it is simply PERFECT!!

I started reading this book with my 7 year old daughter, snuggled up in her room before bed and despite it not even being October yet, it almost instantly made me feel warm and festive inside.

A story of friendship, determination, family and hope, with a strong feminist vibe, bashing down gender stereotypes, reinforcing the message that girls can be strong and brave too, embracing individuality and standing up for your beliefs. It covers family demographics in a fluid and subtle way, but is inclusive in a whole variety of ways meaning almost everyone can relate to the characters.

As the story starts to unfold I actually screen shot a paragraph of the text and sent it to my Christmas mad friend, because it literally gave me a warm glow of love just in a short portion of text - which after this year is very much needed!

At the start of Tinsel we meet Blanche Claus, an orphan child who lives under a bridge - she hates Christmas, and normally counts down the hours, minutes and seconds until it's over and gone for another year. One night an old lady stops her and gives her a gift - a glass bauble and when she peers inside it she can see a scene moving inside - it actually looks like its really there - but it cant be - can it? A chance encounter leads her to meet Rinki, a child who LOVES Christmas, and they share a mince pie picnic together. Every day that follows she returns to try and find her new friend, but she's never there, leading her to believe it was all in her imagination.

Some time they are finally reunited whilst Blanche is on an important mission and their Christmas adventure truly begins. What if every child could have a gift on Christmas Day, just like the gift that the old lady gave to her?

A book that makes you question everything you know about Christmas - what if Father Christmas wasn't a man after all??

This book is a must have for kids this Christmas (its released at the end of October). would make an awesome advent read and absolutely NEEDS to be made into a movie as this is a Netflix film that would give Christmas Chronicles a run for its money,. I can picture it all so clearly in my mind - and that for me, is the sign of a book done well.

A delight for adults and children alike. I rarely give 5 stars (as I always feel there could be room for improvement, but for this I made an exception) LOVED IT.

Thanks to Netgalley for arranging the Advance review copy of Tinsel.

This book feels like Christmas. It has all the warmth, excitement and hope of Christmas, tied with a witty bow and the promise of magic. It has everything you could ask for from a Christmas book; magical characters, a rags to riches story, a disgruntled baddie, a fierce friendship and more than a sprinkling of hope.

Laugh out loud funny and so brilliantly visual; Tinsel is crying out to be made into a Christmas film. Fiercely feminist and written with warmth and wisdom, this book gives you all the feels.

As with all her books, Sibeal gives a nod to social politics; stamping on gender stereotypes, highlighting inequality and the misuse of power and celebrating the individual who stands up for what they believe.

My new Christmas favourite and a Christmas classic in the making.

3.5 Stars

Ok lets start with the good here! Once the story gets going it is magical! I love the idea that we have got the story wrong all this time and actually Christmas was the invention of two orphan girls. It's very Christmas carol, meets Annie.

I however thought that the pacing was really off with this book. id say I spent a good 50% quite bored, the story wasn't really getting going, then I spent around 40% thinking I love this, its totally magically, and then again the last 10% fell flat.

Anyone who knows me personally knows how much I adore Christmas, so naturally I was so excited to recieve a review copy of this book. Mrs Claus has always been a character who intrigues me and I've always wanted to hear a story from her perspective and that's exactly what this book gave me.

In this story we follow Blanche Claus, a young orphan who normally spends all of Christmas day counting down the seconds until it's over until the year an old woman gives her a gift, a Christmas bauble that shows a dancing tree in a snowy landscape. This leads her on the most incredible adventure where in she discovers herself and try's to find her place in the world, alongside her best friend.

What if we got the story wrong and Christmas as we know it was actually created by Mrs Claus? How did the world come to believe it was really Santa who left us presents?

I can't wait to buy a copy of this for everyonw I know at Christmas so that they can also have the pure joy of reading this wonderfully fantastic story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this magical, festive adventure and heartily recommend -whatever time of year.. It was full of humour and warmth throughout. Really original tale. Loved the characters, especially feisty heroine Blanche and all the Carols! Especially loved the nod to the Rocky 4 training montage! I will be recommending to the children in Key Stage 2 and I hope to read it to my Year 3 class. Haven’t read books by Sibeal Pounder before so will search some out.

James here (Instagram @james_reads_books

What an unexpected gem.

Tinsel tells the true story of Santa Claus and how the jolly fat man image we have is just a myth - and the idea to give every child on the planet a gift came from two girls, Blanche Claus and Rinki Garland. We see how they made it happen with the help of Rudy (a special horse) , Santa (a very timid ship’s cook), and a whole lot of hilarious magical elves - who are all called Carol.

Set in Victorian London (and Carolburg, North Pole) this story is magical, thrilling and funny. Like, properly FUNNY. I could not stop smiling throughout (Eggnog the talking tree in particular is a pure and beautiful soul, and I love them).

Blanche is a main character who you cannot help but root for, she is resourceful, and succeeds through hard work and kindness.

Part of the fun is spotting all the elements of the Christmas we understand and working out how they’ll come to be in the legend.

I will be re-reading this in Dec - it’s released 29 October. Just preorder it from any indie. It’s a future classic (and would make THE BEST Netflix movie).

Finally on a personal note - thank you @sibeal.pounder for including a two dad family. One of the characters is adopted by the amazing Teddy & Captain Garland. Teddy is a fashion designer to the stars and his dresses fund the heroic adventures of Captain Garland. It’s refreshing to see them be role models, each successful in their own right but loving & super supportive of their child. I can’t wait to be able to share this with my son as he sees so few families like his (where being different isn’t the point of the story). This family is just a family and there is no ‘issue’ around it. (PS if you tell me they were brothers/just friends - I’ll stick my fingers in my ears and shout ‘LALALALA’ until you stop!)

In short: Funny. Empowering. Clever. Preorder it. (I’ll repost this review on release).

This is a very lovely story about a whole host of interesting characters. The friendship between Blanche and Rinki is heartwarming and the Mince Pie picnics are something i must try.

The misunderstanding about who Santa Claus actually is well written and although as an adult I could see where the story was heading, I loved it. The book has good guys, bad guys, a dancing tree, snow, magic, animals, Carols, ELFs, friendship, challenges gender stereotypes and is about Christmas. What is there not to love.

I will buy a copy, it will go well with the Matt Haig Christmas books as alternatives to the traditional legend.

A heartwarming and humerous alternative to the traditional story of the origins of Santa. A story that starts with hardship and a friendship between two orphan girls that becomes unbreakable. They are determined that girls can be whoever they want to be, regardless of bigoted views. They manage to fulfil their dream even when faced with challenges.

Filled with friendship, dancing Christmas trees, face warmers, hot chocolate and mince pies. A fun festive adventure.

Echoes of Annie and Arthur Christmas.

We will definitely be incorporating mince pie picnics in our Christmas traditions this year!

A refreshingly original story on the origins of Santa Claus. It was really funny and a brilliant adventure. Definitely one to be enjoyed with lots of mince pies!

I loved this story. Tinsel tells the tale of Christmas and how it all began as an idea born over a mince pie picnic between two friends, Rinki and Blanche Claus.

Tinsel is full of adventure and when Blanche comes across a magical land full of Carol’s Christmas starts to come alive but when a misunderstanding occurs the whole world believes Santa is the magical person who delivers toys to all the boys and girls when really it is Blanche, now she must try to put it right and show the world that girls really can do anything.

I loved this book, I can’t wait to buy it and read it to my girls this Christmas.

Wow! @sibeal.pounder @bloomsburychildrens what an incredible Christmas story. This has everything! Magic, adventure, friendship, morals, bad guys, more magic, fun, laughter, mince pies, more magic, more mince pies 🥰
I adore the friendship between the two girls and their independence throughout the story is inspiring. Rinki’s two dads are written into the story beautifully and naturally without making a big song and dance about it, just how it should be. I love Rinki’s adoption story and how Blanche doesn’t follow the ‘rags to riches’ stereotype. So many key messages and important themes in this book, an absolute must read this year! My daughters (8 & 10) adored this story and couldn’t wait to read more each day this week. We’ve flown through it as a testament to the addictive wonderment of the book!

I absolutely loved this book. It describes the beginning of Christmas traditions, from the point of view of two, seemingly insignificant girls. Blanche Claus is an orphan who lives under the bridge and hates Christmas, until she meets a mysterious old woman who gives her a present. That present leads to her making friends, meeting some extraordinary creatures, going on adventures and, eventually, fulfilling her dreams.

This is the perfect winter read-aloud for 5-9 year olds, and a great choice for 7-9 year olds to read to themselves. This would appeal to humour-lovers, adventurers and friends. Read it!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Children’s Books for the Earc to read and review.

If you love Christmas then I 100% recommend you read this. It is Christmas perfection. From the incredible story being told, to the spirit throughout to the magical-ness of it all and the cast of characters we meet within. It’s a must read for any Christmas lover out there.

There are so many things I loved about this book for a start Blanche Claus yes it was so perfect that this story told us that ‘Santa’ Claus is a strong, determined, incredibly sweet, intelligent and resilient woman who does anything she sets her mind to doing. This book shows you all of that with our protagonist Blanche, it’s something the world needs to see that a woman can seriously be and do anything including be ‘Santa’ Claus. It is wonderful and you instantly love her from page one, she’s a fierce and wonderful well written woman.

The imagination used to create this story is wondrous, taking the ideas that are out there for Christmas and all the elements and components that make it up and finding a natural reason for them, for creating them into existence in this world. From what the Elves really are to how Claus became Claus, to how Rudy became who she was and so popular. Plus the invitation to meeting Krampus which due to his terrifying nature you rarely see in stories like this. To the truest of magic, friendship and that one red bauble can be the best gift you ever receive.

I loved all the characters they were all so wonderfully written from cook who sings anytime Krampus is near which made me laugh so much, to the array or Carols with different personalities each one so perfectly crafted, to Rinki and Santa who were the truest of best friends to Blanche. Plus all the other characters we meet through this journey to create Christmas.

I’m a Christmas person all year round and getting to read this made me feel so magical inside, that warm and wonderful Christmas feeling and spirit. It’s a book I’m certainly going to be reading each year from now on.

This is a gorgeous book celebrating strong, feisty girls, and friendship. Rinki’s two dads are incorporated into the story just as they should be; without fuss or fanfare and gender roles are challenged throughout but in such a way that it never feels forced,
Any book with a festive theme is a winner in my eyes and Tinsel is a twinkly, Christmassy delight that I can’t wait to have in my school library!

I love a twist on an original tale. I love a story with powerful girls wanting to change the world! I love stories set at Christmas!
This story has all the features of a favourite! Christmas, Girl power and a traditional twist.

With its own Scrooge like character, elements of the story we know and celebrate every Christmas, this new story about Mrs Claus will make you read on in wonder about what we believe and what may have actually happened!
With heartwarming friendships, dastardly deeds and plenty of mince pies, this has modern classic written all over it.

The story begins with an orphan called Blanche and a magical red bauble. The bauble is passed to Blanche by an old woman under a bridge in London as Blanche counts the seconds until Christmas is over. This bauble will change her life and the lives of children around the world.
That same night, Blanche meets Rinki, another orphan with a big heart and big dreams. They share their first mince pie picnic together and promise to keep in touch. Time passes and the girls do not meet for some time again.

When they do, their lives have changed. Blanche is the best carter in London with her horse Rudy, and Rinki has been adopted by Captain Garland and lives in a large house next to Mr Krumpus, a grumpy old man full of hate towards Rinki, Blanche and Rudy!

When their lives collide again, it brings the promise of new adventures and dreams. While Rinki stays in London, Blanche ends up in the North Pole where a community of elves, all called Carol, and a giant dancing Christmas tree become her family and help her dreams of gifting toys to all children begin to come true.

Fanciful, adventurous and heartwarming, this tale will fast become a favourite.

Felt slightly odd to be reading a Christmas story in July while the outside temperature is around 30° but I was soon dragged into this story and even began to imagine I was cold.
What a wonderful lovely twist on a commonly written about theme. I loved the strong (incredibly strong!!) female leads who, although totally dominating, did not belittle the male characters and it definitely was not a 'girly' book.
There were so many appealing points - lovable orphans, ELFs, animals with character lovely relationships and unlikely friendships. I will most certainly buy a copy of this when it hits the shops as I feel sure I know a host of children that will love it.