With a pitch-perfect voice for the tween years, Rebecca Stead’s novels, including the Newbery Award-winning When You Reach Me, have taken their place among the classics for middle grade readers. Next spring, she’ll make her debut as a picture book author with Anything (Chronicle), the story of a girl adjusting to a big life change, illustrated by Gracey Zhang.
Anything follows a girl and her single parent father as they settle into a new home. Dad brings a birthday cake for the new apartment to celebrate their new beginning and tells his daughter she can wish for “three Anythings.” A rainbow painted on her new bedroom wall, her first wish, makes her feel better, but it’s not quite enough. As the day progresses, she continues to consider her wishes for some of her favorite things. But she holds back her dearest wish: to go back to her old familiar home. When she finally admits this wish, her dad takes her on a journey, and by the book’s end, she is home... in every way that matters. As the girl processes her feelings, readers can relate to her fears and find comfort in the protection of a loving caregiver.
The idea for the book, based on the author’s own experiences, has been kicking around since 2006. Stead’s editor, Ariel Richardson, said that the story is evidence of just how hard it is to write a picture book. “Our editorial conversations have explored the nature of love and generosity, safety and trust, repair and change—we dug deep!”
For Stead, the experience tested her as a writer. “I think picture books have a staggering potential that’s both inspiring and, to be honest, daunting,” she said. “There’s a sort of tightrope being walked together by the artist, the writer, and the reader. At the end of a picture book, I want to feel as if I’ve arrived exactly where I need to be. And that’s also what I want for readers of Anything.” She describes her story as “deep but ordinary.”
Stead said the story is “a loose interpretation of experiences and feelings I remember. Various publishers rejected it over the years, but for some reason I always felt weirdly optimistic about it—and happy to keep working on it.”
Writing for a younger audience requires a very different approach than writing for middle graders, she continued. “A picture book is a mini-revelation when it comes to writing. I could think—and rethink!—every word, in a way that isn’t practical with novels. I found it freeing and scary. I’m laying my heart on the line—no reaching for the bag of tricks.” Still, Richardson said, “I think you’ll find that her familiar, beloved voice shines through in every line” of the picture book.”
To illustrate the book, Stead was paired with Gracey Zhang, who worked on the Ezra Jack Keats Award-winning Lala’s Words and had teamed up with Richardson on Upside Down Hat. “Gracey is adept at bringing warmth and wonder to complex and layered concepts,” Richardson said, describing her style as both fresh and classic. “During the development process, Rebecca and I often gushed about Gracey’s wonderful character development and authentic body language—as well as her eye-catching use of color.”
Stead reported that the process of working with Zhang was “dreamlike,” adding that the illustrator “has created something I didn’t even know how to wish for: a generous, uncondescending, and beautiful world.”
Although she is currently developing two more picture book ideas, she is still writing middle grade, with a “wild ride of a novel” scheduled for release next fall. She can’t divulge much yet, but she did provide a one-word hint: aliens.
As for Anything, Stead said she hopes readers with come away with “feelings of self-recognition, confidence, safety, and connection to the people in their worlds.” But because each book is personal for each reader, she’s looking forward to learning from readers what the story means to them.
Anything by Rebecca Stead, illus. by Gracey Zhang. Chronicle, $17.99 Apr. 29, 2025 ISBN 978-1-7972-1515-0
