A Crazy Day At the Critter Cafe

Fluid, rhyming text make this a fun read-aloud. The setting is a quiet cafe until a bus full of loud, at times rude and demanding, animals barge in making all sorts of demands on the waiter and cook. The skateboarding cow steals the show when a massive food fight breaks out which pushes the frazzled waiter over the edge. He kicks all the animals out. The story ends with the skateboarding cow taking ownership of the abandoned cafe.

I am so happy that I discovered this book, it is so much fun and the illustrations are wonderful and colorful! The rhyming makes the story energetic and fast-paced, just like the plot is supposed to be. I thought that the story was actually very well written. The chef and the waiter are trying very hard to maintain their professional demeanor while trying to meet the demands of the animal customers, but are getting stressed and failing. When the animals become rude and overwhelming, the pair has no problem making them leave. I thought it was very fun.

I really enjoyed this story because the rhyming helped to engage the listener. They rhyming also provided a rhythm to each page which could help a beginning reader find their flow. The story also introduced a few animals that some children may not have heard of yet. The story is fun and whimsical! The illustrations were bright and colorful to keep the attention of the reader. They depicted the story well and the reader could imagine each character and scene.

I agree with another poster about this book being semi chaotic. There is a fun rhyme scheme to the text. Overall I couldn't get past the rude demanding critter visitors at the cafe nor the chef and waiter who give in when the going gets tough.

Great book with fantastic illustrations and clever rhyming. Lots of silly fun happens when there's animals in a cafe.

A roadside café turns into chaos when raccoons, elephants, zebras, rams, and other hungry animals storm the place looking for something to eat.

This is a fun rhyme book that includes TONS of vowel patterns. It is a fun fiction book about different foods, all of which rhyme. The pictures are great, and the author often dresses up as the cow character. It could be used to introduce an author study of Barbara Odanaka.
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