102. Welcome to the Creature Cafe

Welcome to the Creature Cafe (The Aristokittens #1) Jennifer Castle. 2022. 128 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: On a bright, warm morning in Paris, inside a grand mansion on a cobblestone street, three kittens sat looking up at a big wooden door. Their tails swished nervously back and forth. 

Premise/plot: Welcome to the Creature Cafe is a sequel to Disney's The Aristocats. Marie, Toulouse and Berlioz star in this early [illustrated] chapter book for young readers. These three kittens are inspired to open, or re-open, the Creature Cafe. They stumble across an abandoned restaurant--the Creature Cafe--and learn its history. It is a restaurant for....you guessed it...animals. They want to re-open the restaurant (and rename it). But running a restaurant may not be as easy as they initially think....especially when you're a kitten.

My thoughts: I liked this one okay. BUT. I was disappointed primarily because I think my expectations were way too high. The Aristocats is one of my all-time favorite, favorite, favorite, favorite, favorite movies. Seriously. I love just about everything from the movie. (Almost everything. Not quite.) And so I wanted this sequel to be magical....or special. It didn't quite live up to the movie. But if you pick up the book with reasonable expectations or even low expectations, I think it could prove charming. And for the right readers, I think this could work.

 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Young Readers