Stead, Rebecca. Anything. Gracey Zhang, Illus. Chronicle, 04/2025. [56]pp. Picture Book. Trade $17.99. 978-1-7972-1515-0. GRADES Preschool–2. OUTSTANDING.
Stead’s first picture book evokes quiet emotion through a deceptively simple story about a young girl and her father adjusting to their new apartment, 3B. We never learn why they moved, but it’s clear that 3B doesn’t feel like home. To mark the new beginning, the father gets the apartment a birthday cake and tells his daughter she can wish for three “anythings.” The narrative is gentle and familiar to anyone who’s faced the uncertainty of a new beginning, but it’s Zhang’s illustrations that truly elevate the book. Her loosely sketched black-and-gray drawings are brought to life with soft washes of color that reflect the girl’s shifting emotions: blue when she hides in a too-small closet, green when she proudly carries a plant home alone. The dynamic layout—prose and illustrations arranged differently on each page—mirrors the disorientation and wonder of her unfamiliar surroundings. Although the child’s final “anything,” to go home, doesn’t come true in the way she expects, the book suggests that home is less a fixed place than a feeling that takes shape over time.
Alexandra Pantazes—Mountain View Public Library