Tinsel The Girls Who Invented Christmas

Reviewed By  Janet Mawdesley       December 13, 2020

 

Author  Sibeal Pounder.

Distributor:      Bloomsbury Children's Books
ISBN:                 9781526619273
Publisher:         Bloomsbury Children's Books
Release Date:   November 2020  

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Now Christmas is almost here it is interesting to discover that perhaps the story of Santa is not as it has always seemed to have been, perhaps it was very different but created the understanding that at Christmas time it is an excellent thing to be able to reach out and help other people.

Tinsel is all about just that, helping someone else, forming friendships, a little dash of adventure, very definitely magic and a wonderfully different look at the story of how the story of Santa came to be born.

Blanche Claus was huddled under a bridge, a place she called home. It was cold; damp horrible cold and 1875, a time when people who did not have a home to live in lived in places like Blanche. Christmas to her was something she wished would pass very quickly. Just when she was wishing something nice would happen an old lady appeared and gave her a beautiful, red bauble; a magic bauble.

Rudy is a rather sad and forlorn looking horse who also appears on the street where Blanche lives under the bridge, but he is something other than what he appears to be, something very special indeed.

Rinke is a little girl who lives on the other side of town in a very, very nice house filled with wonderful things. She loves mince pies, the special ones made only at Christmas, and she loves to share.

Tinsel is their story, theirs as well as a number of other people who become their friends, as the very special magic that is still inside Christmas brings them all together in the most mysterious of ways, and in doing so creates the magic of Santa and Christmas.

Sibeal Pounder has woven a wonderfully rich, entertaining fantasy around the special time of the year when magic a can and often does happen; when everyone looks just a little outside the place in which they live. There is even a Grinch involved, not just a Christmas Grinch but an all the year round Grinch, who get his just desserts, and not Christmas pudding either.

Tinsel is a wonderful, warm and happy story to be enjoyed over and during Christmas and perfect as a gentle reminder that kindness is a very essential part of Christmas, as well as everyday life.