Stage Fright

Ed and his friends accidentally enter a writing contest. They do their best to create a wacky play that no one will like. Their wacky play is chosen to be performed on the night of a blue moon. Ed tries to keep his strangeness under control, but it’s difficult to watch every word he speaks. Can Ed keep the strangeness under control? Will the blue moon make even stranger events happen?

The fourth installment of the Loonivers Series keeps all of the same lovable characters from the previous books. Ed really wants to keep the strangeness at bay, so he is careful with every word he says. This conflict adds fun and suspense as Ed visualizes what would happen if he said the wrong thing. For example, he imagines saying “I laughed my head off.” He then imagines his head floating off his body.

Ed’s adventure teaches readers the meaning of idioms in a delightful way. The idioms often come to life in interesting ways with illustrations showing what the literal meaning of the idiom would look like. The black and white illustrations on every page will cause smiles and giggles. Besides teaching the meaning of idioms, the story also teaches the importance of thinking before you speak.

Easy-to-read text and fun illustrations make Stage Fright a good choice for beginning readers. The plot does not revolve around the previous books in the series. However, the story does make a few references to previous books. Stage Fright will delight younger readers with the outrageous events, the silly illustrations, and the reoccurring characters. If you’re looking for a silly series that teaches as well as entertains, Stage Fright will be an excellent addition to your child’s library.

Sexual Content

• None

Violence

• None

Drugs and Alcohol

• None

Language

• None

Supernatural

• Ed finds a magic coin called the Silver Center. The coin “gave me the power to make strange things happen.”
• Ed says, “Time flies when you’re having fun.” Then his “watchband had unbuckled itself. The ends started flapping like little leather bat wings,” and his watch flies away.
• When Ed says a hamburger looks like a flying saucer, “it started to spin. Then it floated up until it was about a foot above her plate.”
• Ed’s head turns into a horse’s head.
• Because it is the night of a blue moon, strange things happen, including freezing people. Ed and his friends are pulled into the air. Ed and his friends, “were at least twenty feet off the ground. I wondered whether we’d get dragged all the way to the moon.” Ed comes up with an idiom that brings them back to Earth.

Spiritual Content

• None