reviews
Feb 10, 2012
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 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 More...
Dec 13, 2011
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 Ma
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Feb 14, 2012
While this only has a handful of stories compared to the Flight anthologies, every one had solid art, which earns it a bonus star! Sometimes the art doesn't always speak to me in the Flight books or comic anthologies in general, but here they were all well drawn. Johanne Matte's story felt like watching an old Chuck Jones cartoon, and Emily Carrol's story was classically simple in appearance and creepy in content. Some stories were stronger than others (the anti-war one felt kind of forced), but
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Nov 28, 2011
This is a clever anthology of short stories in comics form with LOTS of kid appeal! The theme (each story features a mysterious box with magical contents) would work great as a creative writing prompt, and reading the assorted riffs here would certainly get the creative juices flowing. A nicely varied collection, it features a range of different art styles and tones. It's probably the best fit for grades 4 -6 but will also appeal to many 7th graders, AND make an ideal choice for reluctant reader
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Feb 20, 2012
Kibuishi is the author of the Amulet series of graphic novels as well as the anthologist for Flight. Here he has created an anthology for children that has seven short stories in graphic format that focus on a single subject: opening a mystery box. The seven stories all take very different approaches to the focal subject, some of them approaching with humor, others with drama. The differences deepen when the drawing style is factored in, some creating almost real images and others looking mor
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Feb 06, 2012
An incredible collection of seven short graphic stories all with a central theme around a mysterious box. From mildly horrific to straight fantasy and science fiction, all of them are entertaining with a wry ending. A definite must have for any YA who likes graphic novels (age level lists ages 9 and up), but even older teens and adults will enjoy the wit and humor in these stories.
Feb 18, 2012
Meh. The concept was interesting, but most of the stories took a pretty simplistic approach to it. The only stories I really liked were The Keeper's Treasure by Jason Caffoe (my favorite art and possibly the most thoughtful treatment of the concept of "What's in the box?"), Whatzit by Johane Matte and Simone Phanekham (cute and funny), and The Escape Option by Kazu Kibuishi (I love Copper, and this story was easily the most complex and thought-provoking in the collection).
Dec 31, 2011
I really enjoyed the short stories in this one. Some of the stories have vibrant colors that really make the images come alive.
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