Cafe Chaos

Published on 5 April 2026 at 20:49

Cafe Chaos

🍩☕️🤪🥐

by Catherine Wilkins

★★★★★

At a glance

Things I loved:

✍🏼 Author: Catherine Wilkins

🎨 Illustrator: Katie Abey

📅 Release Date: 13th March 2025

📚 Book type: Illustrated chapter, 272 pages

🌟 Reader level: Growing

😂 Laugh-out-loud humour

👨‍👩‍👧 Chaotic, lovable family dynamics

📓 Diary-style, easy-to-read format

🎨 Fun illustrations on every page

💬 Real themes handled sensitively

🥐 Caroons!!

Dive Deeper

My Thoughts...

Cafe Chaos by Catherine Wilkins was recommended by The Rebel Reading Society as a great pick for reluctant Y3/4 readers—and I completely agree! It’s a brilliant mix of humour, real-life struggles, and fun illustrations, following 10-year-old Hope Crumble as her family tries to keep their struggling café afloat.

The storyline is full of chaos in the best way. Hope’s home life is a total madhouse (Cafe Crumble… or should I say Cafe Chaos!), while she’s also navigating starting secondary school and trying to stay true to herself—even when things don’t quite go to plan.

I loved the cast of characters—from her hilarious family to her loyal best friend—and the diary-style, illustrated format makes it super engaging. It balances laugh-out-loud moments with more serious themes like financial struggles, bullying, and the importance of communication.

🌟A fantastic choice for fans of diary-style or tween reads—and I now desperately want to try a “caroon” (croissant+macaroon!) 🌟

Blurb

Running a bustling café is Hope's family's dream - it's just not hers! While Dad and Gran battle it out in the kitchen, Mum tries to balance the books while serving quiche to hordes of hungry pensioners. Meanwhile Hope's dramatic sister Stacey is determined to turn all of life into a stage and her "wishes-he-was-on-Wall-Street" cousin Connor decides to buy novelty costumes to advertise the business. And then Auntie Rita rocks up...

Café Crumble is tipping straight into Café Chaos! Luckily for her family, Hope is there to save the day, though ideally this wouldn't involve dressing up as a giant ice cream and dancing outside the school gates.