Rebecca Stead’s ANYTHING captures the challenges that come with change through the lens of a loving relationship between a father and his young daughter. On their apartment’s “first birthday,” the father offers the little girl three wishes (“anythings”), then does his best to satisfy her requests with creativity and patience that helps to ease her uncertainties. Gracey Zhang’s illustrations go from simple and sparsely colored to vivid and detailed to match the change of emotions in the book. A beautiful and reassuring take on weathering transitions and new beginnings.

Book 097 of 350 ~ 2025

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Loved the art work and loved the story. I was however curious about the circumstances. Beautiful single parent storybook.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Moving can be hard. This sweet visually stunning picture book shows a loving father help his daughter adjust. Rebecca Stead tells a sweet quiet story that explores the conflicting feelings a child experiences when moving to a new home. It also shows a close loving relationship between a young girl and her single Dad. While settling in to a new apartment, a Dad provides a birthday cupcake for the apartment on it's one day birthday. He also lets her wish for not just anything, nut three "anythings". Some wishes are easily granted, but a wish to go home, takes some thoughtful action from the father. By morning, she is happily at home in their new home. This quiet story starts with pen and ink drawings with sparce splashes of color. The mostly black and white illustrations reflect the girl's sadness. But as she becomes more comfortable, theses stark illustrations become more and more colorful. I read a temporary advance reader's copy of this cute picture book. I can honestly recommend this book for any child who is moving or facing other big changes. It would also make a great addition to a classroom library or councilor's office.

I loved the playfulness of this book. I will definitely be adding this to my library for next year and sharing it with our school counselor who uses picture books as a core part of our SEL instruction.

Anything is a tale of a young girl who has moved into a new apartment with her father. One day, the girl's father explains that today will be Apartment 3B's very special birthday! The girl and her father share a slice of a chocolate birthday cake, go to the park, and wind up selecting special plants at a local plant shop which they carry home with them. the girl's father grants her three special "anythings"-- which will be three special wishes (or requests) to help the girl feel safer and cozier in their new home in apartment 3B. However, that night as they are tucked away securely in their beds, the girls awakens to the sound of alarms and sees shadows cast by the light peeking in through her windows. The father hurries to the young girl to comfort her in her state of distress. Together, they decide once again to make the best of their new home until they feel that it is perfectly their own special home.

Anything is a wonderful story for children feeling the stress and reluctance of turning a new home into their own special place to be.

Adjustments and changes are hard, and big changes in a kiddo's life can be really disruptive for everyone. This is a great little story about how a parent can think outside the box about how to approach making their child feel at ease in a new situation or space, and how they can give them some feeling of control when they may feel out of control. The drawing style reflects the kid's perspective, and I was instantly drawn in. I love the use of color to show moments of connection and times when the child in the story has a positive emotion or experience. A lovely little story to share with your kiddo, especially if there is a life change happening that you want to connect on.

A sweet story about a kid and their parent's first night in a new home. As a kid who moved I feel this

Very charming little book featuring a special relationship between a child and their father. It addresses the challenges of adjusting to change and I think this book would resonate with any children going through a move or a big change in life. The illustrations are a bit chaotic, but I think children might see their own drawings in the images. Will recommend this to my 5 year old nephew.

Thank you to Rebecca Stead, Chronicle Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

"Anything" by Rebecca Stead begins with a young girl making wishes as she blows out the candle on the cake. She wishes for life to go back to how it as was before as they are moving into a new apartment. The black and white illustrations showcase the girl's feelings about their new home. As she wishes for 3 "anythings", the book starts to incorporate colors into the illustrations. The colors flourish on the pages as the new apartment begins to feel like home. Great for talking about change and new beginnings. For grades Kindergarten - 3rd grade.

Oh what a lovely book!!

A young child an their dad have moved into a new apartment and are celebrating with chocolate cake that has one candle on it for a wish. The child asks their father what they should wish for.

ANYTHING
says the Dad; wish for three anythings.

So begins an adventure of learning a new home, hoping for certain things [and not always getting them], and finding the child's three anythings. It is also about the struggle of moving to new places that feel strange [including new sounds and shadows, and how glorious it is when Dad is there to answer their call for help], and how this amazing parent helps his little feel better about it all.

Absolutely fantastic, with gorgeous, touching illustrations, everyone who reads this book will love it [it is just so very touching], it will resonate with adults [and maybe even remind them of time with their own parents when they too were little] and I think you will find that everyone will want to read this over and over.

Thank you to NetGalley, Rebecca Stead, Gracey Zhang - Illustrator, and Chronicle Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rebecca can do no wrong! I'll read anything she writes and this picturre book definelty matches the hype.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Stead delivers a story that unfolds like a quiet spell—you don’t realize how deep it’s pulled you in until the last page lands like a whisper. It's nostalgic and introspective in that "sit with it after" kind of way.

This is a sweet little book about a girl and her dad, who have moved into a new apartment. The girl is unhappy about having to move and misses her old home. We don't know why they moved, but a picture depicted in one of the illustrations shows a man and a woman, who I assume are her parents and now the mom is missing. When The story was cute, but I felt like it was missing something. I wanted to have more focus on her feelings and why they had to move. I really enjoyed how her dad went on a journey to their old home taking her around the apartment.
All in all the book was just OK for me. It was missing some context that I believe would have made it much more powerful and less confusing. What I mean by confusing is that not much is explained as to what happened prior to them celebrating the birthday of their new apartment. The pictures were also confusing to me and I think of how the mind of a young child would process the lines and scrambled up pictures.

A sweet story of a little girl struggling with emotions after moving into an apartment with her dad. The dad does many things in attempt to help ease the move for the girl and helps the reader to gain understanding for both.

This is a very heartwarming story about a single dad and his daughter and their move to an apartment. His kindness and ability to feel her feelings is inspirational.

This is the story of a young child who moves into a new apartment. They’re not happy with the new apartment but they have a birthday for it. And Dad grants the child three “anything” wishes. They include a rainbow, for it not to be Thursday, and a giant slice of pizza. This is a sweet story. The art is unique. The story may be a little hard for someone to understand, but I like the idea behind it.

Anything is a heart-warming story, lovingly told and beautifully illustrated. A source of comfort for anyone navigating life's uninvited changes.

This picture book is about a little girl and her father who have just moved to a new apartment. The girl is struggling with the change and misses their previous home, and the father does all he can to help her adjust and make things special for her. It's a sweet story in many ways, but I found the ending very abrupt, and I also wish that the story had addressed her feelings and questions more directly.

Netgalley ARC- books about moving are hard for me, but this one was well done. It doesn't shy away from the confusion or sense of displacement, but it makes room for comfort and acceptance of change along side those feelings.

I love the illustrations and the moody feel that the author evokes, as a little girl and her dad move into a new apartment. It felt like perhaps her parents have divorced, and this was her dad's new place, but the love she has for her father and the comfort he brings is strong enough to overcome any challenges.

I thought this was a fantastic book for children to feel seen when they are uncomfortable, unfamiliar, or even afraid. The security that the father provides is very reassuring. I also liked that not all of her wishes came true, and that was ok.