Anything starts with the busyness of moving day for a little girl and her father—boxes, a new bedroom, new sights and sounds outside. And since it’s a big event, they are marking the day with cake. Daddy invites his daughter to make three wishes aloud for “anything.” But deep down inside, she’s also making “secret wishes” about something she’s too afraid to share: The new apartment doesn’t feel like home. What follows is one of the most touching and lovely stories published in years.
Rebecca Stead’s narration throws open the door to the girl’s world with blunt, straightforward statements. Like most kids, our unnamed main character has strong opinions about favorite colors (rainbow), favorite foods (pizza) and not-so-favorite smells (paint). But underneath this confident, outspoken exterior lie her worries about an unfamiliar home. She doesn’t like the new bathtub, the closet is too small and her new plant makes scary shadows.
One of the standouts of Anything (and there are many) is how the father handles his daughter’s fears and grief. He doesn’t flood the room with saccharine statements, nor does he ignore her concerns. Instead, he calmly helps her feel at home. It is beautiful, gentle and so deeply, achingly honest, touching the heart with its poignant humanity.
Readers will fall head-over-heels for this book’s art. In a stunning mash of pen and paint, using black and white alongside vibrant primary colors, Gracey Zhang’s art perfectly captures myriad feelings: anxiety, joy, fright, calm. It’s all there, scribbly and sketched, bold and confident. Zhang’s characters are simple but full of emotion, and her created world feels vibrant, growing increasingly colorful as the story progresses. Most of us, at one time or another, have felt unmoored and far from home. Stories about moving are relatively common—however, this picture book is anything but. Have a tissue at the ready.
