Speaking of Home: ANYTHING Deserves Celebration

 The prior post shared a picture book in which HOME travels with the family, in much the way a turtle carries its home on its back. If you missed it, I hope you will take a look, HERE. The bottom line in that heartfelt story is that HOME is where LOVE is. 

CHRONICLE BOOKS, 2025

ANYTHING is a story by Rebecca Stead (multiple award-winning author who captures the emotional landscape of children of many ages) and illustrated by Gracey Zhang, (also a multi-award-winning illustrator). It, too, explores what and where HOME is, and how to find it.

Change is never easy, and this is a story of change and longing. A family must move, but their beloved home does not come with them. Not even the blue footed-bathtub for Thursday night baths. What, then, will make this new place HOME?

Those who write picture book manuscripts and seek feedback from other writers and editors are sometimes (often) told that their story really begins several pages into the text. What that means is that the first lines and pages are backstory, setting the stage, but not revealing anything important about the problem or characters. Backstory matters, but if a story is well-told, the talents of storyteller and illustrator will combine to reveal this without having to state it in advance. 

This is Stead's first picture book, and I hope it will not be her last. A writer of longer text (novels for middle grades or teens or adults) must come to picture book writing as if to poetry. What is required is trust in the reader to fill in from images and experiences what is not delivered in words. Condensing the luxury of 40,000 words to under 400 words for the entire book is  daunting, to say the least. In this case, though, Stead demonstrates expertise and appreciation for the elegance and absence of words in the best of picture books. 

In brief, a young girl and her dad are in day one of a move to a new apartment. Dad is deeply aware of the stress of moving and of his child's struggle with change. The first line is:

"The cake was chocolate."

Yep. That's it.

But just look at what that does to the opening.

Interior opening spread: ANYTHING, Chronicle Books

The illustrations are mostly backline drawings, some sketchy and some darkened and overlaid to focus attention and give weight to the scene element or characters. Isolated items carry attention through color (cake, rainbow, imagined wishes). The ANYTHING of the title refers to Dad's effort to make a hard transition more welcoming. Blowing out the candle on the cake allows for wishes for ANYTHING. (Even three wishes for ANYTHING, no matter how hard those wishes might be!)

The ensuing pages reveal a child with an aching heart who keeps some wishes to herself, a dad who knows his child well and provides safe spaces to share the wishes and help build a new home together. This is a full-sized book with loads of white space and minimal art and text. All the better to focus readers on that art and those well-chosen words. 

I won't spoil the deeply loving relationship, challenges, and resolve of this new release, because words I'd use would never do justice to the minimalist-richness of a book that is bound to be in the running for awards and praise in this calendar year. Beyond that I see this as a classic for years to come, ideal for Father's Day, for moving day, for change and loss, for discussions of HOME and what matters most, and as mentor text for writers and illustrators everywhere. 

A delightful note is that the first person narrator is sketched at such an age and with medium length hair and generic clothing so that they could visually read as a boy or girl. The lack of color and detail in character images means that readers can assign their own skin tones and identifiers to the characters if they wish, although they tend toward Caucasian. 

May I challenge you to get this book and consider carefully what it means to write what matters, but ONLY what matters, and to draw WHAT MATTERS. Like poetry, picture books like this make it clear that words without pictures fail, pictures without words often fail (though there are certainly some unforgettably fabulous wordless picture books), and both require an attentive, invested reader. That human element, with the right words and the right images, simply SOARS!

Father's Day Reminder

 

Pen It! Publications, 2021

If you happen to have a copy of my picture book, IS IT OVER?, you might pull it out to share on this FATHERS' DAY. Illustrator Rebeca S. Hirsch (now working as R. S. Hirsch) transformed a story of my heart to one with multi-layered characters and powerful imagery. The theme of this book is the power of storytelling to provide comfort, and in reaching out to others who need help we often help ourselves. 

Naturally, that storytelling power is magnified within a loving, trusting relationship, and shared stories fuel memories to strengthen those bonds. 

Another even more recent picture book with a surprise military dad element is WITH DAD, written by Richard Jackson and sensitively illustrated by the multi-award-winning  Brian Floca. It, too, features a memorable shared experience that encompasses and expands the deepest connections between a father and child.

NEAL PORTER BOOKS, 2024

Other suggestions for picture books for this special day can be found in earlier posts HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE or simply type FATHERS DAY in the search box ( over there>>>) to find even more from the archives of this blog. 

Whether your father is still alive or not, is your biological sire or your father by circumstance or choice, is young, old, ill or fit, consider experiences you've shared that epitomize your relationship. I hope that those stories involved trust and deep emotions. If so, consider  sharing a memorable story or two with your dad, if possible,  or with someone who knew them if he is no longer here, or with anyone who knows YOU well. Storytelling is a way of strengthening bonds, and we can all use more of those. They can even become bridges to people who might otherwise not feel close to us. Give it a try, or use one of these picture book recommendations to encourage sharing stories with others. 

A Fathers Day Marvel: BUNNY SHOULD BE SLEEPING

NEAL PORTER BOOKS,
Holiday House, 2024

 BUNNY SHOULD BE SLEEPING may just be the most ideal Fathers Day picture book I've ever read. Written by Amy Hest and illustrated by Renata Liwska, the cover alone is likely to elicit "aw-w-ws" for the obvious and deft gentle tone and tender appeal of the character and the situation suggested by the cover (check the back jacket cover, too.)

My first awareness of it, including praise from other reviewers, left me eager to read it. I've now renewed my library copy and re-read it multiple times, preparing to share it with you at this special calendar timing in celebration of fathers. That was not my original intention. I imagined it would fit well among anyone's collection of bedtime books, portrayed by an appealing little bunny in need of yet another story or other delay to the inevitability of sleep. 

The images are warmly sleepy and comforting despite the cool colors filling each page. As the story unfolds, the drama increases. Readers share Bunny's worrying concern and mission yet travel within Bunny's safe and secure home, habits, and thoughts.  The text assures us of Bunny's soft blanket and warm toes while the glowing moon offers a haven from full darkness. Even so, Bunny lies awake, revealing his remaining need: 

"Come on, Dad! Check on me, check on me, check on me!"

Waiting is hard, and Bunny must take action. Once he collects the necessary items in his wagon, he takes them to Dad's room, who is asleep under that same glowing moon. When Bunny offers each of the comfort items from their prior routines, Dad sleeps on. Bunny's next move is more direct. The pages that follow are as tender and perfect as you might imagine, and utterly satisfying in the simplicity and power of the text and the images. Don't imagine that it is predictably "sweet", it is also surprising in wonderful ways. 

Whether your Fathers Day dad (defined however you feel at home with that title) is still in this young-child stage of life or long past it, I imagine many who would love this story and the appreciation and recognition it implies. The responsibilities of fatherhood/parenthood are immeasurable and often overwhelming, but this recognizes that "the little things" really do matter, and always will. 

I've written in prior posts about the significance of nightly read-aloud sessions with Dad, Mom, and my siblings. Among the many ways I benefited from my parents' habits and guidance, those nightly readings are priceless and irreplaceable in forming the person I am today. I've also written multiple  Fathers Day recommendations/reviews, easily located using the search box in the side menu. Whether you check those out or not, I certainly hope you will take time to read (and reread) this masterful picture book, for its powerful message, and to appreciate the talents and skills of its creators and book designers.