Catie Wilkins serves up Café Chaos books for kids
Catie Wilkins is writing a new series of funny children's books, as she prepares to perform her first solo Edinburgh Fringe show in 13 years.
Published under her full name of Catherine Wilkins, the first in the saga, Café Chaos: My Family Is Not A Piece Of Cake, is out now and tells the story of Hope Crumble, an 11-year-old about to start secondary school, whose family run a busy but struggling café and don't always have time for her.
Aimed at readers aged eight and up, the book is illustrated by Katie Abey and published by Nosy Crow, who have put out Wilkins' seven previous books for children and teenagers.
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 turns 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.
"I love writing funny books about slightly zany families with combative family dynamics" says Wilkins, who won the Laugh Out Loud Teen Book Prize at the 2024 Lollies Book Awards. "My mum is from a big family, and when I was a kid we had many eccentric aunties turn up out of the blue, that we then had to either help or argue with. My main character, Hope is 11, and when Auntie Rita turns up, her family put her in Hope's room without even asking her.
"I've worked in the hospitality industry in various roles, waitressing, bar work, events, and even delivering pizza, and it is one of those jobs where you're always on your feet and something always needs doing, so I thought that would be a fun scenario that already has some heightened stresses in it. Even though there are perks, like eating the food.
"My favourite scenes to write are the family meetings. Everyone is burnt out and stressed, but trying to keep this failing café alive. Her 19-year-old sister Stacey, wants to be an actress and keeps trying to put on plays to make more money; Her 16-year-old cousin Connor, who also lives with them, wants to be a millionaire and keeps throwing around business terms he can't back up, and then everything just descends into arguments. I think it takes a really level head to run a business with your family - but the Crumbles can have a crack at it too."
A second book in the series is set to be published next year. And discussions are underway about adapting the series, with Wilkins revealing that she "would absolutely love to adapt this new book series for television.
"I think it would work really well as a family sitcom. I've got so many ideas for these bonkers characters, they're so much fun to write, and I think it could run and run. I've had a chat to one producer and need to take the next step and actually write a proper pitch, but I think that would be great.
"My last book, You're Not The Boss Of Me, has been turned into a musical, which has been really fun to see. That book won a Lollies Award for best Laugh Out Loud book for teens, and I think there's lots of scope for funny books to reach a wider audience if we can get them out there."
Previously part of the Drunk Women Solving Crime podcast with Taylor Glenn and Hannah George, Wilkins is returning to Edinburgh with a solo show for the first time since 2012, performing We'll See at Stand 2 from the 1st to 10th August.
"The show is partially about trying to parent the opposite way to how I was parented" she explains. "It's partly about therapy some mild childhood trauma, and partly some broader material about relationships and men and women. I think it's going to be really fun!"
Café Chaos: My Family Is Not A Piece Of Cake is available to buy from shops including Amazon