ANYTHING by Rebecca Stead
2025 Chronicle
This book is about wishes.
But really it is about
feeling loved and safe in the face of uncertainty.
Edelweiss: A reassuring and uplifting read
In Rebecca Stead’s debut picture book, a young girl’s father helps her navigate big feelings. They have moved to a new apartment. Nothing feels the same. Not even her favorite chocolate cake.
Dad encourages her: Make a wish. For anything.
And so begins a challenge. What Anythings would she wish for? A rainbow in her room. The biggest slice of pizza in the whole world. That today wasn’t Thursday…Each time, Dad finds a way.
But he can’t hear the secret wish she keeps inside…that they never had to move to a new apartment…until it comes out in the middle of the night.
I love how Stead uses simple black and white pencil art to portray the characters and lets splashes of primary colors carry the young girl’s emotions. The overnight uncertainty rendered in shades of black and washed out reds gives way to yellow in the arms of her dad. It is the colors of their new apartment – no longer black and white –that in the end confirm a change of heart.
This is not a book about spoiling a child. It’s a lesson in listening to what a child is asking for.
Spoil Alert:
She does find home – through her Dad’s patient and steadfast love.
In five words:
POETRY FRIDAY!
Patricia Franz writes picture books and poetry. She believes children, dogs, and sourdough have a lot to teach us about life, joy, and wonder. She has raised two boys, four dogs, and holds a master’s degree in Theology with a focus on children’s spirituality. Patricia, her husband, her Bernese Mountain dog, Bonny, and her sourdough starter split their time between the Arizona desert and the Sierra Nevada mountains. 