What our educators thought

“As an educator, Café Chaos by Catherine Wilkins is a highly engaging and accessible text for upper KS2 readers, particularly Year 5 and Year 6 pupils. It is a humorous, illustrated novel that immediately appeals to reluctant readers, although several pupils did note that it took a few chapters to “get into” due to the style and integrated doodle-like illustrations. Interestingly, this became a talking point in class, as some pupils felt the visuals supported understanding, while others found them distracting—this sparked a useful discussion about how authors use layout and design for effect. The book does not contain distressing or inappropriate content (no death or heavy themes), but it does explore relatable issues such as friendship pressures, starting secondary school, family financial struggles, and mild bullying. These themes made it particularly effective for empathy work and PSHE links. In the classroom, you could use the novel as a springboard for character inference and diary writing from Hope Crumble’s perspective. Pupils would enjoy creating their own “Café Chaos-style” illustrated pages, combining speech bubbles, doodles, and short narrative extracts. It would work especially well for pupils who struggle with extended writing, as the format validates creativity alongside structure. Anecdotally, several pupils strongly connected with Hope as a narrator, describing her as “funny” and “relatable,” while others were drawn to the eccentric supporting characters, particularly Auntie Rita. However, a few confident readers felt the pacing slowed in places and preferred more action-driven texts. Overall, this is a strong choice for mixed-ability classes, especially where engagement and accessibility are priorities.”