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102nd out of 197 books
—
289 voters
Explorer: The Mystery Boxes
by
Kazu Kibuishi (Goodreads Author)
WHAT'S IN THE BOX?
Find out in these seven clever stories by eight incredible comics creators!
Under the Floorboards by Emily Carroll
A box, a doll...but it's no ordinary plaything!
Spring Cleaning by Dave Roman & Raina Telgemeier
There really is mystery in the back of a messy closet!
The Keeper's Treasure by Jason Caffoe
A treasure inside a labyrinth inside a temple which w...more
Find out in these seven clever stories by eight incredible comics creators!
Under the Floorboards by Emily Carroll
A box, a doll...but it's no ordinary plaything!
Spring Cleaning by Dave Roman & Raina Telgemeier
There really is mystery in the back of a messy closet!
The Keeper's Treasure by Jason Caffoe
A treasure inside a labyrinth inside a temple which w...more
Hardcover, 128 pages
Published
March 1st 2012
by Harry N. Abrams
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Introduction: I'm making up a pathfinder for good introductory graphic novel titles for older children (6-12 years; I also hope that it could be used as a list of core titles for librarians who might want some guidance) and I've found that it's actually an area in graphic novels I'm not very knowledgeable in. This title caught my eye it was edited by Kazu Kibuishi (of Amulet fame, which I have not read), and I've never read a graphic novel comprised of stand-alone short stories either, so I deci...more
A collection of 7 graphic stories by a crew of talented artists.
Under the Floorboards-A girl finds a strange wax doll under a floorboard in her bedroom that causes her nothing but trouble until she tricks it back into the box it came from.
Spring Cleaning-While cleaning his closet, Oliver finds a mysterious puzzle box and puts it on sale on ebay. To his surprise a bunch of wizards are interested in buying the box.
The Keeper’s Treasure- A boy on a treasure hunt crosses paths with a mysterious cre...more
Under the Floorboards-A girl finds a strange wax doll under a floorboard in her bedroom that causes her nothing but trouble until she tricks it back into the box it came from.
Spring Cleaning-While cleaning his closet, Oliver finds a mysterious puzzle box and puts it on sale on ebay. To his surprise a bunch of wizards are interested in buying the box.
The Keeper’s Treasure- A boy on a treasure hunt crosses paths with a mysterious cre...more
This is a graphic novel collection of seven different stories, all of them featuring a mysterious box of some type. It was a high quality book with some excellent stories.
My favorites were: The Keeper’s Treasure (about a boy searching a mysterious labyrinth for a mystery box), The Solider’s Daughter (a girl set on avenging her father finds a box that makes her rethink things), and The Escape Option (a boy is pulled into a mysterious box and given a choice about the future of our planet).
Overall...more
My favorites were: The Keeper’s Treasure (about a boy searching a mysterious labyrinth for a mystery box), The Solider’s Daughter (a girl set on avenging her father finds a box that makes her rethink things), and The Escape Option (a boy is pulled into a mysterious box and given a choice about the future of our planet).
Overall...more
EXPLORER: THE MYSTERY BOXES is the spiritual successor of the beloved and critically acclaimed FLIGHT anthologies, with a shorter page count and more emphasis on adventure. The seven short comics within are fantastic introductions to some really great cartoonists and all of the stories have their charms, although there are some standouts.
"Under the Floorboards" by Emily Carroll
The anthology starts with a deliciously creepy story, wherein a young girl finds a box containing a doll under the floor...more
Okay...this might be sad, but yes, this middle-school aged book has gotten 5 stars from me.
So basically, there are 7 stories, and they're all independent, all short stories from different authors and illustrators...and wow...but it is just so good.
First Story: Under the Floorboards: It was really creepy, but it kind of reminded me of Anya's ghost. I love how in a lot of these stories, not everything is WRITTEN, just shown, so there's a lot of reliance on the pictures and it works.
Spring Clean...more
So basically, there are 7 stories, and they're all independent, all short stories from different authors and illustrators...and wow...but it is just so good.
First Story: Under the Floorboards: It was really creepy, but it kind of reminded me of Anya's ghost. I love how in a lot of these stories, not everything is WRITTEN, just shown, so there's a lot of reliance on the pictures and it works.
Spring Clean...more
Genre: Graphic Novel
This is an interesting novel that has 7 graphic stories that all involve a similar object, a box. In this book readers will enjoy finding out what is in the box in each story. The graphics are incredible and use great colors and lines in each story. I enjoyed reading each story and figuring out what was in the box in each story. There were funny stories that would be great to use in a class for students to start a writing or drawing prompt from and expand the story. There wer...more
This is an interesting novel that has 7 graphic stories that all involve a similar object, a box. In this book readers will enjoy finding out what is in the box in each story. The graphics are incredible and use great colors and lines in each story. I enjoyed reading each story and figuring out what was in the box in each story. There were funny stories that would be great to use in a class for students to start a writing or drawing prompt from and expand the story. There wer...more
Em's Review: What is in the box? This question is the uniting force in this collection of stories from comic artists Kazu Kibuishi, Raina Telgemeier, Dave Roman, Jason Caffoe, Emily Carroll, Stuart Livingston, Johane Matte, and Rad Sechrist. With each story, the reader is introduced to a different artist’s style and to a different mystery box. The boxes hold all manner of things, from a traveling sorceress to a message from the dead. Some of the boxes cause trouble, some bear messages or gifts....more
Audience: This book is best suited for older students in 4th, 5th or 6th grade. Those students who still use picture clues for some parts of comprehension would enjoy this book as well. Any child who is a science fiction, mystery or comic book buff would not be able to put the book down.
Appeal: This book contains seven stories. The stories are not related to each other. Each story is approximately 20 pages long, making it a fast read--or for those students who read slower, the book can be a conf...more
Appeal: This book contains seven stories. The stories are not related to each other. Each story is approximately 20 pages long, making it a fast read--or for those students who read slower, the book can be a conf...more
I picked up this book intending to just flip through it and see what it was about. I ended up reading the entire thing.
Essentially, this is a graphic novel short story collection all on the same theme: mystery boxes. Each story has a different author/artist and style, but all have an element of fantasy to them. Including lots of unicorns. There are seven stories:
Under the Floorboards by Emily Carroll - A wax doll comes to life, helping and hindering a girl in her chores.
Spring Cleaning by Dave...more
Essentially, this is a graphic novel short story collection all on the same theme: mystery boxes. Each story has a different author/artist and style, but all have an element of fantasy to them. Including lots of unicorns. There are seven stories:
Under the Floorboards by Emily Carroll - A wax doll comes to life, helping and hindering a girl in her chores.
Spring Cleaning by Dave...more
Explorer, The Mystery Boxes is a compilation of seven stories by different authors and illustrators all asked to answer the question "What's in the box?" All told in a graphic novel format with stories that vary from the humorous to macabre, there is something for every reader within. This would be a fabulous tool for a writing teacher to share with a class to encourage students to push their limits of creativity and to celebrate how different each person's reaction to an assignment can be and h...more
Overall 3.5- A great diverse collection. Love the theme of mystery boxes! Quick read.
Under the Floorboards- 4 Stars- While not the most original concept, the story unfolds visually and manages to be very haunting and suspenseful despite its brevity.
Spring Cleaning- 3 stars- This was a cute. The art is not my favorite but I love an understated love story.
The Keeper's Treasure- 5 stars- Very funny, seemingly simple but with a number of unexpected turns.
The Butter Thief – 3 stars- This story had th...more
Under the Floorboards- 4 Stars- While not the most original concept, the story unfolds visually and manages to be very haunting and suspenseful despite its brevity.
Spring Cleaning- 3 stars- This was a cute. The art is not my favorite but I love an understated love story.
The Keeper's Treasure- 5 stars- Very funny, seemingly simple but with a number of unexpected turns.
The Butter Thief – 3 stars- This story had th...more
Audience: 3rd grade and up, boys and girls, reluctant readers
Appeal: This book is a graphic novel with 8 different stories by 7 authors that all revolve around a mystery box and what is inside it. I think that reluctant readers would be interested in this book because it looks like a comic, there are many different types of pictures and they are all in color, and there are 8 different short stories, so if one does not fit a reader's fancy, they can just flip to the next one. At first I thought t...more
Appeal: This book is a graphic novel with 8 different stories by 7 authors that all revolve around a mystery box and what is inside it. I think that reluctant readers would be interested in this book because it looks like a comic, there are many different types of pictures and they are all in color, and there are 8 different short stories, so if one does not fit a reader's fancy, they can just flip to the next one. At first I thought t...more
Since I really enjoyed reading the Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi, I was really excited to read Explorer. Unfortunately, my level of enjoyment for this book was not on par with my enjoyment for the Amulet series. This is probably due to the fact that Kibuishi edited it, and did not create the content.
The book consists of seven short stories by seven different artists: Raina Telgemeier, who wrote Smile, Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy), Jason Caffoe, Stuart Livingston, Johane Matte, Rad Sechrist and Emily...more
The book consists of seven short stories by seven different artists: Raina Telgemeier, who wrote Smile, Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy), Jason Caffoe, Stuart Livingston, Johane Matte, Rad Sechrist and Emily...more
I adore both the Flight and Explorer (for the youth) anthologies, and not because I also adore Kazu Kibuishi. These are great venues to read wonderful stories and find new Artists to pursue. Explorer: The Mystery Boxes is a collection of comics centered around a story object–a mystery box. Each of the 7 stories “represent a unique take on the idea of a “mystery box”” (publisher).
a quick note: you know I love image heavy reviews of comics, but do check out the links (click author name) to get an...more
a quick note: you know I love image heavy reviews of comics, but do check out the links (click author name) to get an...more
Seven short stories, all linked by having a mystery box in each story. I was excited about this book at first because it is in comic layout. I have a couple reluctant readers who will read comics. Having 7 shorter stories within one book was appealing as well, less time having to be spent by the reluctant reader to get to the 'juicy' part.
There were a couple of the stories in this anthology that were space related and were the most engaging. I did not care for the horror style comic, or the ones...more
There were a couple of the stories in this anthology that were space related and were the most engaging. I did not care for the horror style comic, or the ones...more
Kazu Kibuishi is turning into the Lee Bennett Hopkins of the graphic novel world with his Flight series of graphic novel anthologies for older readers/adults, and now the second anthology for younger readers (following Flight: Explorer).
I am going to need to reread this -- I blasted through it before realizing that the subtitle (The Mystery Boxes) is the unifying theme for all of the stories. That's kind of a big "DUH" to keep in mind -- the title AND the subtitle can give the reader some hints...more
I am going to need to reread this -- I blasted through it before realizing that the subtitle (The Mystery Boxes) is the unifying theme for all of the stories. That's kind of a big "DUH" to keep in mind -- the title AND the subtitle can give the reader some hints...more
Kazu Kibuishi's follow-up anthology to the award-winning Flight series, Explorer: The Mystery Boxes continues in much the same vein with an eclectic mix of beautiful stories geared toward readers of all ages. While the seven shorts, all centered around mysterious boxes, feature excellent art and superior storytelling, several of the tales excel. The creepy opening contribution "Under the Floorboards" by Emily Carroll, the clever "The Keeper's Treasure" by Jason Caffoe, Rad Sechrist's charming "T...more
Kibuishi (creator of AMULET) is the editor of this graphic novel short story collection. Each story is very different, both in artistic style and subject matter. The common thread that connects each of these stories is a box – not the same box, but a box of some kind.
There are 7 stories included in this collection. My favorite is Whatzit by Johane Matte and Saymone Phanekham. I loved the art style of this one. Also, even though it was short, I felt the story was complete without being rushed an...more
There are 7 stories included in this collection. My favorite is Whatzit by Johane Matte and Saymone Phanekham. I loved the art style of this one. Also, even though it was short, I felt the story was complete without being rushed an...more
I love comics collections; you get a short yet complete story arc, the perfect read for a piece of snatched time, and you invariably discover new authors and illustrators whose work you now want to find. Explorer features a compilation of seven stories, each by a different author/illustrator, yet each featuring a mysterious (and often magical) box that serves to tie the stories together. Each story is vastly different from every other one, and set in a completely different place. From Johane Mat...more
I love the concept behind this graphic novel: Seven different author/illustrator teams offer their take on one central idea--opening a mysterious box. The stories range from downright creepy ("Under the Floorboards", which looks at what happens when a doppelganger slowly takes someone's place), to slyly amusing ("Whatzit", which allows the main character to play his own trick on those who have been trying to trick him) to thoughtfully futuristic ("The Escape Option" in which James is given the c...more
I found the variety and quality of these seven stories to be great. The artists selected do fine work with a lot of personality. I think I really like having them together in one volume because then you get to see the stylistic differences so clearly, especially since each is so well executed. Some of the stories I liked better than others- while the art in The Soldier's Daughter was sharply dramatic, I found the plot a bit meh and The Keeper's Treasure seemed a bit trite. I loved Spring Cleanin...more
I really enjoyed this graphic novel because there were multiple stories in one book. The interesting thing about it is that each story had to do with a square object. My favorite story was Under the Floorboards by Emily Carrol because it was funny to see the doll grew and become her, even though she was a small doll without having any motion. The girl wasn't much of a talker and she never responded to her mom so it wasn't hard for the doll to pretend to be her. The doll just had to look like her...more
A graphic novel anthology of seven stories centered around what's inside a box.
It was a very quick read and maybe not something overly memorable, but it was quite entertaining. I liked the different feel and look of all the different stories.
“Under the Floorboards” is a creepy tale of a wax doll that goes from mischevious to threatening.
“Spring Cleaning” is a funny story of a boy who finds a box in the back of his closet that brings wizards swarming to him trying to buy the box off him.
“The K...more
It was a very quick read and maybe not something overly memorable, but it was quite entertaining. I liked the different feel and look of all the different stories.
“Under the Floorboards” is a creepy tale of a wax doll that goes from mischevious to threatening.
“Spring Cleaning” is a funny story of a boy who finds a box in the back of his closet that brings wizards swarming to him trying to buy the box off him.
“The K...more
This is a fantastic compilation of short graphic novel stories, put together by eight top comic creators. Seven different stories and fabulous color graphics will keep middle grade readers engaged for hours. Both my 10-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter LOVED it. In fact, I had to steal it from my daughter in order to write this post.
My son's favorite thing about these stories was the endings. He told me he loved the way they kept the mystery alive, even at the end, and then insisted on readin...more
My son's favorite thing about these stories was the endings. He told me he loved the way they kept the mystery alive, even at the end, and then insisted on readin...more
This collection of seven stories, told in graphic form, is an interesting experiment. Like Flight Explorer, it gathers writers and artists from diverse backgrounds, all linked very loosely by a theme. In this case, each story has a strange box of some kind. Not the same box, just one or more mysterious boxes in the story. It may be magical, or come from outer space, or contain something wonderful or something evil. Just a box.
With that loose of a thematic requirement, the creators seem to have h...more
With that loose of a thematic requirement, the creators seem to have h...more
Not all different from the now defunct Flight anthology series Explorer manages to be a bit shorter while maintaining the awe and wonder of its predecessor.
I'm not sure if every volume will be a few stories following a single theme but Explorer still managed to hold my attention and I found the varying imaginative takes on the Mystery Boxes theme rather charming.
There doesn't seem to be much in the way of direction other than the obvious - graphic novel featuring several different writers/art...more
I'm not sure if every volume will be a few stories following a single theme but Explorer still managed to hold my attention and I found the varying imaginative takes on the Mystery Boxes theme rather charming.
There doesn't seem to be much in the way of direction other than the obvious - graphic novel featuring several different writers/art...more
This was a neat collection of illustrated stories related to mysterious creatures and what trouble these magical boxes caused to the various characters. I saw the name Kazu Kibuishi, who is one of my favorite graphic novel writers of all time, and thought this was a story just written by him, until I looked inside and realized that he wasn't the only writer/illustrator in this book. A pleasant surprise, of course, but a surprise all the same. I really enjoyed the stories, and the artistry and cr...more
Mar 26, 2013
Rachel
added it
Explorer by Kazu Kibuishi was a different kind of book. It is a graphic novel that contains a lot of different little stories about finding hidden or mysterious boxes. I was not impressed by this book much, and I would say it is definitely not one of my favorites. The stories were usually confusing and skipped around a lot because they were only a couple of pages long. If you like short stories with a interesting, yet confusing twist then this is the book for you. If you are looking for a book t...more
This is a smaller anthology from many of the same artists who brought you the Flight graphic anthologies. It has all the quality and charm of the flight books. This time, they have picked a central theme, the idea of a Mystery Box which is worked into all the stories. I like this approach, as it seems to have brought even greater focus to the writing. While some Flight books in the past have had some great stories and some mediocre ones, I enjoyed every story I read in Explorer. It is also suita...more
This is such a delightful, creative comics anthology -- the whole "you find a box with something inside" type of writing exercise. Fans of Amulet will enjoy another story from Kibuishi, as well as one by his lead production assistant, one from Raina Telgemaier (Smile), and a couple from Dreamworks storyboard artists. My favorite is "The Butter Thief" by Rad Sechrist. I also enjoy how many unicorns make appearances in different stories -- wonder if that was intentional?
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Kazu Kibuishi (born 1978) is an American graphic novel author and illustrator. He is best known for being the creator and editor of the comic anthology Flight and for creating the webcomic Copper. He has also written (drawn) the Amulet series. The webcomic artist and noted critic Scott McCloud has said that some of Kazu Kibuishi's work is so beautifully drawn that "it hurts my hands when I look at...more
More about Kazu Kibuishi...
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Oct 10, 2012 10:16am