Explorer 1 and Explorer 2

Explorer 1: The Mystery Boxes, Edited by Kazu Kibuishi, 126 pages
Explorer 2: The Lost Islands, Edited by Kazu Kibuishi, 126 pages

Kara just blogged about Kazu Kibuishi’s Flight anthology series (see below), but that’s not his only excellent set of themed anthologies!  Kibuishi is something of a graphic novel anthology wunderkind – his Flight anthologies are targeted at a teen/adult audience, and his Explorer anthologies are similar, but are meant for late elementary/middle grade readers.
 

The short stories in Explorer 1: The Mystery Boxes each revolve around a mysterious box.  In many of the stories, the box contains something magical: a golem, a spirit, or treasure.  In other stories, the box holds an alien, or is actually a time-traveling spaceship.

In Explorer 2: The Lost Islands each story takes place on or near an island.  Of course, none of these are ordinary islands; one is inhabited by hard-working anthropomorphic rabbits, while another has been newly formed by an active underwater volcano.

Perhaps the greatest strength of Kibuishi’s anthologies is the variety of stories they contain.  Each author interprets the anthology’s theme in a unique and unexpected way.  The artwork is consistently great and practically every reader is sure to find at least one story they’ll enjoy.