Explorer: The Lost Islands (graphic novel) Review

The second book in the Explorer series brings the lure of the deserted island to life across a uniques selection of stories.

If you were stuck on a desert island what two things would you bring? For me I would bring a satellite phone and a good book to read while waiting for rescue. I still have to buy a satellite phone, but I may already have a great book ready to go. Explorer: The Lost Islands is the newest book in the Explorer series. It’s a book of several short illustrated stories revolving around islands, island inhabitants, and other island creatures. Each story deals with a particular theme and has an underlying moral lesson.

The Lost Islands is a collection of short stories from many artists and writers like: Kazu Kibuishi, Jake Paker, Raina Telgemeier, and Jason Caffoe. Each story has its own art style, pace, and theme. Each one also deals with a different life lesson and teaches the reader something new.

The tales are all about fifteen pages long, and each takes about 20 – 30 minuets to read. The length of each one though is kind of what makes The Lost Islands a great book for casual reading; reading a quick story at lunch or before bed goes relatively fast and provides a pretty satisfying experience. Overall the entire book’s writing is good, some stories are better than others of course, but in all the entire collection is interesting and exciting.

As I mentioned, each story’s art style is quite different and makes for a change of pace every time you start a new narrative. It does’t always work as some of the art styles reflect well with each story, but a few feel slightly out of place. Even so though, most are vey well paired in terms of writer/artist combos. Some stories are vibrant with colors, while other stories are muted and darker. Each illustration style is meant to reflect the tone of the story and moral lesson being taught. In all the art of The Lost Islands is very well done, and quite beautiful at times.

Final Thoughts

I think The Lost Islands is a great addition to anyone’s library. The briefness of each story allows you to read a little whenever you have a little spare time, and each story isn’t as heavy and intricate as most novels which require a lot of time reading to fully enjoy.

The Lost Island does best as a quick read, and in my opinion would make an excellent story book for children’s bedtime stories because each segment is short enough to go through quickly, each one has its own illustration style keeping it fresh, and each also has a good moral/life lessonattached.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and I believe you will to so give it a chance.