Catherine Wilkins revisits her laugh-out-loud series, Café Chaos

About Author

Meet Catherine Wilkins and find out about her Café Chaos series, a hilarious behind-the-scenes look at chaotic families, friendship and foes!

Catherine Wilkins is a writer and comedian. She has always wanted to write funny stories for children and is finding the whole process more exciting than that time she bungee jumped. Which is pretty exciting. If you think about it.

Illustrator Katie Abey is committed to the idea that she can make a positive difference to the world by drawing perturbed animals and lots of rainbows. She has illustrated over 50 children's books.

Interview

March 2026

Catherine Wilkins revisits her laugh-out-loud series, Café Chaos (Nosy Crow)

ReadingZone caught up with author and comedian Catherine Wilkins to find out about Café Chaos: The Way the Cooke Crumbles - the follow-up to the laugh-out-loud Cafe Chaos: My Family is Not a Piece of Cake. Catherine talks about writing from your lived experiences, how comedy can help resolve conflict, and she tells us what makes her laugh.

Café Chaos (book 1): My Family is Not a Piece of Cake: Hope Crumble and her family serve up cakes, coffee and a large helping of calamity in the first book in this hilarious series from much-love2d author Catherine Wilkins. Review: "A heart-warming story, served up with a large dollop of humour."

Café Chaos (book 2): The Way the Cookie Crumbles: Running a family cafe is hard work, and Hope Crumble must cope with constant demands from her family, and the demands of school. Can comedy help her navigate a route through the conflicts she faces, and help her stand up to the class bully?

Q&A with Catherine Wilkins: Introducing Café Chaos

"I think comedy can help take the edge off difficult subjects, and laughing at problems can often help."

1. Hello Catherine, Thank you for joining us on ReadingZone! Can you tell us a little about yourself, and your Café Chaos stories?

Hello! My name is Catherine Wilkins, I am a writer and comedian. I love jokes and stories and I have a strong background in comedy but mainly only do live shows now as part of a comedy podcast team. I have two children, two cats and one dog.

Café Chaos is about a frantic but loving family trying to keep their business afloat through hard times. There will always be schemes to make more money; Wannabe-actress Stacey will always try and turn the café into a theatre space; Wannabe-billionaire Connor will always have a new marketing strategy; Gran will always have a delicious new treat; and Hope will always save the day with the help of best-friend Leila.

2. You're a comedian by trade - so how did you start writing for children?

I have always loved jokes and stories. Reading time and story time were my favourite part of school and home life for as long as I can remember. I always wanted to be a writer that was funny, and I wrote practise stories all the time, as I was growing up. When I started doing stand-up comedy in my 20's, I met more people who were looking for my type of voice, and then eventually (long story short) that lead to becoming a published author .

3. What gave you the idea for Café Chaos, a series set in a family-run café? Would you have loved or loathed growing up in a café like your character, Hope Crumble?

I thought a café would be good because it means everyone is on top of each other and have to work together for a common goal, even if they're not getting on. This gives lots of opportunities for conflict, comedy and overcoming problems. Plus delicious food.

I have worked in the hospitality industry quite a lot and it can be very busy and stressful. I don't think I would have liked to work in a café with my family! (Though I would have liked the cakes).

4. Hope Crumble is brilliant at helping her family out of their scrapes, but struggles with being 'seen' and with the bullies at school. How does her character develop through the stories?

Hope is brilliant at helping her family, BUT overlooked at home. They are often too busy, stressed or pre-occupied to notice what's she is up to. Once that balance settles down at bit (by the end of book one they are noticing her and her needs), she finds herself a bit more, and is much better at standing up to the bullies.

5. Hope has a strong network around her, both family and friends, but who are your favourite supporting characters? (So many to choose from!)

I love writing all of these characters. I have had so much fun making these books. I love Auntie Rita a lot. I especially like writing comedy conflict. So the ways that Stacey and Connor clash with each other and miss each other's points is a lot of fun to write. Leila is the best friend we all need, and I love her as well.

6. Why did you decide to focus on Hope's comedy skills in the latest story, The Way the Cookie Crumbles - and how did you draw on your own comedy background for Hope?

Hope has discovered that if you complain or criticise in a funny way, people are more receptive to it. (I don't know where she got the idea for that). Making jokes is taking a risk. You never know how it's going to land, or if people will find it funny. It's a kind of thrill-seeking.

As Hope gets more confident she is happy to be herself and take a risk on saying the kinds of things she finds funny. I like having a character who isn't trying to shrink herself to fit in.

7. Which do you love more - stand-up comedy or making readers laugh with your books?

Very difficult question! I love both so much. I get a lot of satisfaction from creating what I feel is funny in both formats. Then they each have something the other doesn't.

Stand-up is an immediate thrill (you can have an idea and then that same day, perform it in front of 20 people in a pub and get feedback (ideally validation) straight away. With a book you have to wait much longer to hear what other people think of it, but then the book will last much longer, and doesn't disappear into the night.

8. There are lots of laughs in these novels - but what else would you like your readers to take from Hope's experiences?

I love comedy and want readers to have fun reading these books. There are also themes of bullying, fitting in, anxiety, finding your place in the world, money worries and lots of serious things woven in.

I think comedy can help take the edge off difficult subjects, and laughing at problems can often help. I also hope readers feel less alone, and that they're not the only person something crazy or embarrassing could happen to.

9. Do you have more adventures planned for Hope and her family's business?

Yes! So many ideas! I hope we get to do more and more and more. Snack vans and ghosts could be coming up soon.

10. What kinds of things do you enjoy when you're not writing, to escape from the world? What three things won't our readers know about you?

All sorts. I love playing with my children, I like running and swimming.

Three things you might not know about me:
- I used to be the drummer in a band
- My cats follow me everywhere because they think I will feed them
- I have never slipped on a banana skin

School Visits: I offer an event where I do a quiz, power point presentation and a Q&A at the end, all about how I got into writing stories, where I get my ideas, and all the different things that go in to making book.

Watch Catherine Wilkins introduce Café Chaos: My Family is Not a Piece of Cake. Chapter extract

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