This is an oddly beautiful graphic novel. It’s about a little girl Nolla who has lost her mother. It’s her eighth birthday and her dad assured her that it is one OK to celebrate and that her mother was looking forward to giving her a special gift. The special gift is an odd little music box. Later in the evening Nolla comes to learn that her music box is an inhabitant of a special world that she shrinks down explores. There she meets another girl her age and her brother and their sick mother and it’s up to Nola to help make her better and figure out what is poisoning her. Pandoriant is an odd little world the people are almost fairy or nymph like but there are monsters and Beings that are both good and evil or funny and grouchy. It’s an entirely new world or Nolla has no idea what’s going on. She’s been told to be careful because this new world is dangerous but besides what’s happening to her new friend’s mom, she doesn’t understand why it’s dangerous. We don’t get much beyond that in book number one, but it was really intriguing, and the art is beautiful. It’s a style of art not normally found in most graphic novels. This book is translated from French, and it’s very well done. So far there are a total of five books, and I plan on reading every one of them.

'Music Box #1: Welcome to Pandorient' by Carbone with illustrations by Gije is the story of a young girl and a magical gift.

Little Nola has lost her mother some time ago, but for her 8th birthday, she is given one of her mother's treasures: a music box. When she looks at it, she sees someone waving. Closer examination has her falling in that world, where she is mistaken for her mother and also may be in danger. Along the way, she makes friends and helps people.

I liked this story of strange new worlds and a brave young child who is willing to help those in need. The painted art is pretty nice too and gives the story a nice richness.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

A beautiful graphic novel, great for middle-graders who love fantasy!

The reader follows Nola's story and journey to the world of Pandorient, which she enters through her mothers' mysterious music box. The plot is simple and very easy to follow, the characters are very likeable and the world-building is solid.

It's a nice easy read even for older readers looking too take a break from heavier books. I can't get over how beautiful the comic is drawn and the vividness of the colours. Loved it!

I thought that it could have been longer but the story and characters were unique and enjoyable. Will really appeal to middle grade readers with a big imagination.

This was beautifully illustrated loved the vibrancy and the life that springs out of the pages. This story is really touching and great for kids struggling with grief and loss. It has a wonderful way with pulling you in.

First and foremost, I'd like to address the concern of other reviewers asking for this to be longer. This is definitely in the YA, even middle-grade, side of graphic novels. It's a bit shorter to adapt to the attention span of the age group that it is written. As this is the start of a continuing story, this would be a great series to introduce your kid to graphic novels.

I adore the art in this book. Everything is beautifully bright and vibrant throughout the world of Pandorient. I appreciate how the writer navigated the waters of the protagonist's grief. Many more kids deal with losing a parent, whether to death or just not having one or the other in their lives, it seems, more often than ever before. This book was thoughtful and empathetic of that, which I greatly appreciated. The "through the looking glass" kind of story is one that we see a bit more often, but I enjoyed this take on it.

This was an ARC recommended via NetGalley.

"The Music Box" comics has a beautiful aesthetics. Its pastel coloring makes the story so vibrant. It is a world of fairy tales and wonders.
Speaking of colors, I like the contrast between the two worlds - one darker and one brighter. It was a good visual cue for the reader to see the transition from one world to another.
I enjoyed the story and I would like to continue with the comic's next issues. There were small instances were the story felt rushed. Some parts needed more exposition. Otherwise, everything was beautiful. The characters were interesting. I would like to visit them again and learn more about the world with its magnificent characters.

Really good! Beautiful artwork, a fun and intriguing adventure in an imaginary world. This book doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it does a very good job creating a far above average story! Good work!

I really liked this graphic novel. It was very interesting and beautiful. Even if the main character is just 8 years old, I think this book could to be read by everyone. You can find a great adventure, a beautiful friendship and a wonderful story.

I loved the art in this book. It was so colourful and vibrant.
This is a beautiful story about a girl, Nola, who is coping with the recent death of her mother. The plot really pulled me in and the worldbuilding was good for a graphic novel. It felt a little bit short to me as I wanted more.
Overall I would recommend this.

This was a stunning book! The concept of being pulled into an alternate universe is not new, but I love what Carbone did with this trope.

A cute graphic novel about an 8 year old girl who finds a world that her mother used to visit as a child.

The artwork makes the world come alive and will keep the attention of any young reader looking for adventure.

Enchanting graphic novel with gorgeous illustrations. I can' wait to re-read, and I am truly looking forward to more from Carbone and Gije. Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

A beautiful little story about a little girl, Nola, coping with the recent death of her mother.
For her birthday her dad gives her her mom's old music box (TECHNICALLY it's a musical snow globe but I forgive them). When Nola plays the tune she realizes there is a little girl inside the globe who is begging her for help. The globe girl sucks Nola into her world, a strange land filled with strange creatures called Pandorient, where it turns out, her mother was something of a legend.
Because this is the first book in a series, nothing is really explained too thoroughly, and there is a lot left unsaid and unanswered. The art is very very beautiful though, and the things that are unanswered should leave the reader wanting more.

So this graphic novel wasn’t that very long, so I don’t really have that much to talk about it. Overall I enjoyed reading this novel, but in my opinion it was a bit too short. I really loved the time Nola spent in the Pandorient and I actually wanted this novel to be longer so we could get to see more of this world. I feel like a lot happened in the like 66 pages that I read, but not that many was explained and I overall was just very curious about that stuff. Now this is a children’s graphic novel and I do have to say that this would probably appeal more to 10 year old child than me.
I do think that the topic of grieve was well explored in this novel and it was interesting to see the way Nola dealt with it. I also have to say that I loved the art style, it was so colorful and vibrant, but still pleasing to look at.
So overall I enjoyed reading this children’s graphic novel, I just wished it was longer. I liked the story which was explored and I loved the colors of the art style. And I just don’t have that much to say about it than this.

Beautiful art and a very sweet story. As I read, I knew of several readers that I was going to suggest this one to.

This was quite a cute comic/graphic novel that I'd say is probably aimed at a middle grade audience. I think I would have enjoyed this if it would have been longer- it felt like the pace of the story was really fast throughout and there wasn't really time to see the world created in the book.

The art is really beautiful, especially on the first few pages which are quite dark, the way light is used is really nice, and I like the character designs, though there are 2 girls who are a similar age and I could only really tell them apart from the colour of their hair so if the comic panel had weird lighting and the hair looked lighter or darker than usual it took me a few seconds to work out who it was. Some of the emotion from the dialogue doesn't really fit what the characters were saying, so someone would be saying something that sounded like they were angry but then the character would just look a bit confused and I couldn't quite work out what the character was meant to be feeling.

The world in the music box is quite interesting- though it doesn't look very fantastical, it looks more like an old fashioned town, so I think I would have enjoyed it if it seemed more different to the real world.

I think as an introduction to this world, this was generally pretty good apart from the issues above, it's really pretty and I think it has the potential to go somewhere really interesting.

My son read several pages into this book but lost interest. He's only 7 years old, though, so this may've been above his interest level. However, I can say that I LOVED the illustrations. They were gorgeous. I would recommend this book based on those alone.

The first page is so sweetly sad. A girl on her eighth birthday finds a pathway to a whole new world where her late mother used to travel in her own youth. This story has an Alice in Wonderland or The Nutcracker feel to it. The world created is a beautiful fantasy world with interesting creatures in each panel. There are creatures of all types. There is an interesting discussion of discrimination what is brought up. Overall, this is a cute story of an outsider in a new world trying to help. I give this graphic novel a 3.5/5.

Thank you, NetGalley for the preview of this graphic novel.

The Music Box is about a short graphic novel about a girl who travels to another world through a music box she received after her mother's death.

I really loved the art and it was a very captivating graphic novel altogether.